(HP) Survivor
Title: Survivor
Fandom: Harry Potter
Author: jackiejlh
Rating: PG-13
Character(s): Draco Malfoy, OFC
Pairing(s): Draco/OFC
Warning(s): None
Summary: Malfoys are survivors. They adapt.
Malfoys are survivors. They adapt, they prosper in any situation. They live on, no matter what the obstacles against them. Draco has been told this since the day he was born, but he’s never really believed until now; now that he has no one to rely on but himself.
Well, himself and Rebecca, a Muggle, who has taken it upon herself to fall in love with him. She’s pretty, at least, and not too bright, and she doesn’t ask too many questions. She doesn’t wonder why he doesn't have any family, or why he won’t tell her about his school days. She doesn’t even wonder where he is from; all she cares about is that she loves him.
If anyone had suggested to him a year ago that he would ever live amongst Muggles willingly, he would have laughed in their faces, or possibly hexed them. The very idea would have been considered ridiculous. But now… well, things change. Things change and Malfoys survive; those are two facts one can always count on.
It had all seemed so simple a plan, really; the Dark Lord wanted Draco dead and the Aurors wanted him imprisoned, so Snape had hidden him away in a tiny cottage, just outside a small Muggle town, for safekeeping. He’d had to leave everything behind, even his wand, at Snape's insistence, and Draco had not been in any position to argue. Every Thursday, Snape would appear with money sent by Draco’s mother and enough food to last him until the next visit. It was like being a kid again-all of his needs were met, and he had nothing better to do than take advantage.
But then, one week, Thursday came and went, and Friday too, and then the weekend, and still Snape did not arrive. It wasn't until weeks later that Draco learned he'd been caught and thrown in Azkaban, awaiting a Dementor's Kiss.
After two weeks passed there was barely any food left, and Draco started to get scared. What if he never returned? What if he was dead somewhere? Waiting for him to return just would not do. So Draco left. He wasn’t sure where he was going or how he would survive, but he knew that his chances for survival were better if he left than if he stayed and starved.
During the full day’s walk that took him into town, he’d mulled over his options. Returning to the wizarding world would be impossible. Even once the war ended, whatever side had been won would be after him. There was no other option but to look to the Muggle world for survival. It took him four days without food to swallow his pride and take a job as a dishwasher in a fancy Muggle restaurant, and another two weeks of sleeping in a dark, damp alleyway before he found a room for rent in the home of an elderly Muggle woman.
Then he’d met Rebecca, and before even he’d realized it, he was talking his way into her flat permanently, and now everything seems… satisfactory. Not perfect by any means, not even ideal, but acceptable. After all, he’s alive, and he knows that he has only to wait. Eventually, he will get his chance to do something to redeem himself, he reasons. He just has to wait for something better to come along.
He has a pretty good idea what ‘better’ will look like, too. ‘Better’ will be having a wand in his hand and house-elves at his disposal. ‘Better’ will be living in a world where the Mudbloods and the Muggles are slaves and minions, as nature has always intended. 'Better' will be having a pure-blooded woman in his bed. ‘Better’ will be being in the Dark Lord’s good graces and serving him; at least, until a way can be found to kill him and take over his reign of power. After all, even if he has nothing else to his name, Draco Malfoy has ambition. He needs only to wait, he is certain. Yes, the Dark Lord is angry, and yes, Draco’s mother is paying the price for his failure even now, but some things in life are worth going through, he believes, and he is sure that she would agree. If ever offered the chance to prove his worth and usefulness to the Dark Lord, he would jump at it in a second.
Draco hates himself, sometimes, for the things he’s done in the past. Not the things like becoming a Death Eater, mind, but the things he’s managed to mess up. Like his task. He’d been weak, he’d lost his nerve, and he’d failed. If faced with the same situation again, Draco would go with his first instinct-the Killing Curse, cast without hesitation. He’d allowed himself to be distracted, to be swayed by fear, and it had ruined everything. It isn’t hard for Draco to learn bits and pieces of the goings on in the wizarding world-he can usually find himself a copy of The Prophet-and he realizes that much of what he reads is his fault. Because of his failure on the tower, Snape has gotten the glory that should have been his for killing the old fool. Because of his failure, his mother is in St. Mungo's, the wife of a Death Eater fallen victim at another Death Eater's hand. Because of his failure, the Aurors focused their attention on Snape, and now he's in Azkaban, and the Dark Lord is without his most trusted and valued of followers.
But there’s nothing Draco can do to change that now, and he knows it. What’s done is done. If the Dark Lord is victorious, he will find a way to prove his value to his Lord. And if his Lord should fall… well, he has only to make the other side believe that he's ‘seen the light’ so to speak, and that he wants nothing more than to prove himself worthy of the wizarding world’s trust again. After all, in times like these, one must worry about himself first. And one day… one day, he knows he will have something better. He deserves better. He is a Malfoy, after all.
Fandom: Harry Potter
Author: jackiejlh
Rating: PG-13
Character(s): Draco Malfoy, OFC
Pairing(s): Draco/OFC
Warning(s): None
Summary: Malfoys are survivors. They adapt.
Malfoys are survivors. They adapt, they prosper in any situation. They live on, no matter what the obstacles against them. Draco has been told this since the day he was born, but he’s never really believed until now; now that he has no one to rely on but himself.
Well, himself and Rebecca, a Muggle, who has taken it upon herself to fall in love with him. She’s pretty, at least, and not too bright, and she doesn’t ask too many questions. She doesn’t wonder why he doesn't have any family, or why he won’t tell her about his school days. She doesn’t even wonder where he is from; all she cares about is that she loves him.
If anyone had suggested to him a year ago that he would ever live amongst Muggles willingly, he would have laughed in their faces, or possibly hexed them. The very idea would have been considered ridiculous. But now… well, things change. Things change and Malfoys survive; those are two facts one can always count on.
It had all seemed so simple a plan, really; the Dark Lord wanted Draco dead and the Aurors wanted him imprisoned, so Snape had hidden him away in a tiny cottage, just outside a small Muggle town, for safekeeping. He’d had to leave everything behind, even his wand, at Snape's insistence, and Draco had not been in any position to argue. Every Thursday, Snape would appear with money sent by Draco’s mother and enough food to last him until the next visit. It was like being a kid again-all of his needs were met, and he had nothing better to do than take advantage.
But then, one week, Thursday came and went, and Friday too, and then the weekend, and still Snape did not arrive. It wasn't until weeks later that Draco learned he'd been caught and thrown in Azkaban, awaiting a Dementor's Kiss.
After two weeks passed there was barely any food left, and Draco started to get scared. What if he never returned? What if he was dead somewhere? Waiting for him to return just would not do. So Draco left. He wasn’t sure where he was going or how he would survive, but he knew that his chances for survival were better if he left than if he stayed and starved.
During the full day’s walk that took him into town, he’d mulled over his options. Returning to the wizarding world would be impossible. Even once the war ended, whatever side had been won would be after him. There was no other option but to look to the Muggle world for survival. It took him four days without food to swallow his pride and take a job as a dishwasher in a fancy Muggle restaurant, and another two weeks of sleeping in a dark, damp alleyway before he found a room for rent in the home of an elderly Muggle woman.
Then he’d met Rebecca, and before even he’d realized it, he was talking his way into her flat permanently, and now everything seems… satisfactory. Not perfect by any means, not even ideal, but acceptable. After all, he’s alive, and he knows that he has only to wait. Eventually, he will get his chance to do something to redeem himself, he reasons. He just has to wait for something better to come along.
He has a pretty good idea what ‘better’ will look like, too. ‘Better’ will be having a wand in his hand and house-elves at his disposal. ‘Better’ will be living in a world where the Mudbloods and the Muggles are slaves and minions, as nature has always intended. 'Better' will be having a pure-blooded woman in his bed. ‘Better’ will be being in the Dark Lord’s good graces and serving him; at least, until a way can be found to kill him and take over his reign of power. After all, even if he has nothing else to his name, Draco Malfoy has ambition. He needs only to wait, he is certain. Yes, the Dark Lord is angry, and yes, Draco’s mother is paying the price for his failure even now, but some things in life are worth going through, he believes, and he is sure that she would agree. If ever offered the chance to prove his worth and usefulness to the Dark Lord, he would jump at it in a second.
Draco hates himself, sometimes, for the things he’s done in the past. Not the things like becoming a Death Eater, mind, but the things he’s managed to mess up. Like his task. He’d been weak, he’d lost his nerve, and he’d failed. If faced with the same situation again, Draco would go with his first instinct-the Killing Curse, cast without hesitation. He’d allowed himself to be distracted, to be swayed by fear, and it had ruined everything. It isn’t hard for Draco to learn bits and pieces of the goings on in the wizarding world-he can usually find himself a copy of The Prophet-and he realizes that much of what he reads is his fault. Because of his failure on the tower, Snape has gotten the glory that should have been his for killing the old fool. Because of his failure, his mother is in St. Mungo's, the wife of a Death Eater fallen victim at another Death Eater's hand. Because of his failure, the Aurors focused their attention on Snape, and now he's in Azkaban, and the Dark Lord is without his most trusted and valued of followers.
But there’s nothing Draco can do to change that now, and he knows it. What’s done is done. If the Dark Lord is victorious, he will find a way to prove his value to his Lord. And if his Lord should fall… well, he has only to make the other side believe that he's ‘seen the light’ so to speak, and that he wants nothing more than to prove himself worthy of the wizarding world’s trust again. After all, in times like these, one must worry about himself first. And one day… one day, he knows he will have something better. He deserves better. He is a Malfoy, after all.