Part Two of Three of A Better World
The Enraged Husband
By: Strawberry Shortcake
Draco sat in the back of the weekly Death Eater meeting listening to the same mindless garbage he heard every time. Try to get more followers out of the remaining pure bloods, eliminate half bloods, and get better slaves. It didn't matter to him, none of this did. The world wasn't supposed to turn out like this. Evil wasn't supposed to win.
That is what fairy tales tell us isn't it?
Evil always looses to the light. Why couldn't Potter have been a little stronger? A little faster? A little smarter?
He should have fought harder for that green eyed baby his mudblood girlfriend gave birth to. Draco knew he would have done anything to save his own child. Instead Potter failed, his girl friend was killed, and their child was being raised to be the ultimate servant as some sick and twisted joke.
How did he get here?
How did he get to the point that he wished upon false dreams and desired Harry Potter to still be alive?
Idly he twirled the platinum band that marked his marriage to Cho around his finger. Cho wasn't supposed to be wearing the matching band, Ginny was. His fiery angel had picked out the matching set as promise rings, so the would always promise to be love each other.
That wasn't the case though.
Ginny was dead. No matter how many wishes he made of how many spells he cast, she would remain icy and lifeless. She was destroyed at the hand of Blaise Zabini, his supposed best friend. One of the few people who knew Ginny was pregnant with his child. His last chance to change the stars.
By the time Ginny had gotten pregnant he had sunk so deeply into Voldemort's clutches that there was no escaping for him, but there was hope for his family. He had carefully made plans for Ginny to go to Australia, one of the few places not under strong control. It had taken him months to sort everything out and avoid suspicion. In Australia Ginny could raise their child the way children were supposed to be raised.
The night she were supposed to leave he walked home with a portkey, only to find their house up in black flames, the trade mark of Blaise Zabini. The first of many signs of the ultimate betrayal.
Draco didn't want to believe that his best friend had done such a thing.
Rushing into the dilapidated building he found Ginny dead in their bedroom. Her face forever frozen into a look of surprise. Holding Ginny, he just sat there stroking her hair as their home collapsed around them. He had hoped the fates would be kind and take his life too.
Whatever deities that existed weren't smiling down on him that night.
Days later he awoke at a hospital with Cho Chang watching over him. Reluctantly she handed him one of the many viewing crystals that had surrounded his and Ginny's home.
He watched as Blaise walked up to the front door. He screamed as Ginny let him inside. He sobbed as green light filled the upstairs windows. He became infuriated as Blaise slipped out the front door and the house went up in flames.
In an unstoppable rage he walked out of the hospital and began his search for his best friend. His mother had sobbed and begged him not to leave, for fear of what he would do when he found the other man. His father reluctantly agreed with his decisions and began to fill out the necessary paper work. Cho just sat there and promised to wait for him to return.
He didn't know what to make of her promise, but it was quickly put out of his mind as the search began.
Nothing stood in Draco's way as he crossed the line between searching and hunting. He had nothing to gain, and even less to lose. As far as he was concerned the rest of his life ended when Ginny did. This was the final stand, the kamikaze mission.
The first two days were spent following tracks that lead to no where.
Day one lead him across the coast of Cornwall. The childhood home of Blaise, Clarus Villa, was located there. A newer mansion to the area, it was built just before Blaise was born when the older one became terribly outdated. The majority of it was made of glass, glass which shattered beautifully with a simple flick of Draco's wand.
Italy, more precisely Rome, was where the second day was spent. Blaise had always been fascinated with the Coliseum. Wise man Blaise was, he had an old warlock strip his essence and leave it in the ruins of the Basilica of San Clemente. Blaise knew Draco feared the burning god. Fear however was not present in Draco when the ruins rebuilt themselves into a temple of Voldemort at his command.
The third day, however, was the charm when he found Blaise in the old Gryffindor tower at Hogwarts. Bodies still cluttered the ground oh the scarlet common room, in a way they were demented memorials from the last battle.
The mass slaughter lead you to wonder, was the common room always crimson? Or was it crimson from the destruction?
Blaise sat in an old dorm room where the stuff was still in the drawers, its occupants most likely in the devastation down stairs. Surprisingly the raven haired man gave no fight as Draco dragged him back to the Malfoy manner and locked him in a cell, rather he laughed in an insane sort of way.
That was where he was to this day.
Draco had never bothered to go see him again, nor to put any other prisoners in his dungeon. Isolation was a punishment in its self.
None the less, isolation didn't quell his rage or need for revenge.
"Draco, Pansy wants to know if she can expect you and Cho at tomorrows gala," A single voice broke through his thoughts, and he looked up to see the anxious face of Adrian Pucey. Adrian Pucey, Pansy's fiancé, was a tall, tone man, with long light brown hair. He was a few years ahead of Draco at school, and had played on the house team. Personally, Draco thought Pansy could do much better, if not for herself, than for her son who was now 12 years old.
"Of course we will be there Adrian. I would never let Pansy down, no matter the circumstance," Adrian looked visibly relieved and inwardly Draco chuckled wondering how whipped the man before him was. He was the male epitome of what Pansy liked to call porcelain dolls. Porcelain dolls are wives who are too afraid of their husbands to do much else than sit there and look pretty, a bit like arm candy.
Draco gave a stiff nodded goodbye before apparating back to the manor his parents had left him and Cho as a wedding present.
The original Malfoy Manor in Bretagne France, was both old and beautiful. In English it was called Stone Palace, and it lived up to it's name with amazing architecture and masonry. It was his parent's home that was give to them by Lucius' parents for their marriage and family. It had been passed down since the beginning of the Malfoy line. His parents now resided in his mother's estate Meadow White, located somewhere in eastern Russia. Draco had never been there, nor did he ever plan to go.
When he and Cho procreated a son who married they would retire to her mansion in Taiwan, and the tradition would continue. Their son would most likely never visit them and he would die a bitter old man much like his father.
"Draco I didn't expect you home so soon!" Cho was sitting in a high backed yellow satin arm chair embroidering a new branch into the tapestry of the family tree. A small amount of cobalt string was tied to the back of her rapidly moving needle. Somewhere in the back of his mind Draco remembered cobalt was the color of the Chang family.
"What are you doing?" He asked suspiciously eyeing the shimmering cobalt string that was being woven towards the trunk of emerald. Other colors branched off in different places such as black for his mother and lilac for his aunt, but cobalt blue had yet to touch the green. Once it did there would forever be documentation that at one point in time the Chang and Malfoy lines combined.
"I thought it was obvious. I'm finally adding our marriage to your family tree," With that said cobalt and emerald intermingled radiating a small light of recognition before Cho put her needle down. Her face was stern and her gaze piercing, but Draco didn't care.
"Tomorrow Pansy is throwing a midnight gala in celebration of her engagement. We are going. Use as much money as you want to get us decent robes, make sure they are self tailoring because we don't have time for anything else," Cho just glared at Draco as he continued to talk. " Call Pierre, my mother's tailor, that will ensure that no one else will have similar robes." Draco paused to think about what else he had to say, but Cho took that moment to interrupt with a snide comment.
"Whatever you say master," She sneered pursing her lips in distaste. Cho did not like Pansy, nor did Pansy like Cho.
Cho thought Pansy was a disgrace to purebloods because of her premarital affairs and because of her son, Leander, the result of a week in Greece back during their Hogwarts years. Pansy of the other hand hated Cho because she didn't have the spirit to become anything other than the Malfoy wife and she was nothing compared to Ginny
"I'm going to my study," Draco said temporarily avoiding the inevitable argument about the party. Swiftly he left the room and climbed the steps to his sanctuary. The one place in the world where anything was possible, and where he didn't have to pretend for anyone.
With a wave of his hand the heavy oak door was shut and locked protecting his privacy from his wife's peering eyes. Walking to the desk he slowly traced his name across the top making a small drawer open. A picture album, a bit of vermilion string, and a scribbled note. That was all he had left of her.
Picking up the picture album he smiled as he saw her flying through the pages. In one picture she was scoring a goal at a quidditch match, in another she and Pansy were covered with flour displaying the cake they had baked for him the muggle way, in the last picture of the album she was asleep, absentmindedly rubbing her pregnant stomach. Letting out a sigh he replaced the album and shut the drawer making it disappear.
Rifling through his papers he pulled out the latest projected numbers of remaining resistance groups. It was going to be a long night.
_______
Pansy sat demurely in the velvet chair as people entered their ball room. Leander stood at her right and Adrian at her left. As was custom, they were greeting their guests and accepting any presents they may have brought.
Her petite hands were encased in ivory gloves which worked to smooth out the creases in her black dress. All three of them were dressed in ivory and black.
"Pansy it is a pleasure, like always," Draco said with a smile bending down to kiss her hand. The two had known each other for most of their lives. He looked amazing in the cobalt and silver robes Cho had no doubt picked out.
"Leander, I heard you were in need of a new broom," Turning around Draco accepted a package from Cho and handed it to the excited boy.
"Adrian, I know you have your way with words, and with this quill set, what you write will truly be gold," Once again Draco turned around and accepted another package from Cho which he handed to Adrian.
"Last, but not least," Draco said with a smirk turning towards Pansy. " I wanted to be sure you kept Slytherin house pride." This time Cho stepped forward and placed a jewelry box in his hands, which he opened to reveal an emerald necklace and earring set.
"It is beautiful," Pansy said accepting the box from her friend's hands with an enormous smile.
"I knew you would love it," Draco said with a grin before bending down to kiss Pansy's hand again and nod to the men on either side of her. As Draco walked in Cho followed, not saying a word to the newly engaged.
"That was extremely rude of you," Cho chided Draco once they were seated at their table. Draco picked up the list of people who would be sitting there not eve bothering to acknowledge Cho's comment.
"Pansy's parents are going to be sitting with us along with Theodore Nott and his American girlfriend," Draco stated placing the list back on the table and waving over the waiter who was carrying a tray of Champaign.
"You should have introduced me to Pansy rather than leaving me standing behind you," The Asian woman fumed delicately picking up a glass from the man's tray.
"Why? Do you not have a voice?" Draco shot back with a snicker as he began to drain his glass. The anger from last night had not yet bubbled to the surface leaving both Draco and Cho's tempers on short circuit.
"Draco! I haven't seen you since graduation!" A burly man called walking up to the oddly silent couple. The man was extravagantly dressed in bright orange crushed velvet robes. A magically enhanced witch with strawberry blonde hair was attached to his arm wearing equally as shocking robes of hot pink.
"Theodore it is a delight to see you again," Draco called back sporting his million dollar smile and extending his hand.
"This beautiful thing," Draco said gesturing to the red head, once he shook hands with Theodore. "Must be your girl friend Jessica. The pleasure is mine," Reaching down Draco grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on it.
"Why thank you, that is really sweet of you," Jessica replied in a low southern accent that hung in the air like warm honey.
"This is my wife, Cho. I do believe you know her Theodore, she was only a year ahead of us at school," Draco said with a laugh earning an angry glare from Cho.
"Why hello Cho, it is great to see you again," Theodore broke the silence with kissing Cho's extended hand.
"It is nice to see some men still have manners," Cho growled more at her husband than anyone else before returning to her seat. She let out an indignant noise when she saw Draco pulling out the chair for Jessica, which of course, he ignored.
Another waiter comes by offering more drinks, this time fire whiskey much to Cho's and Jessica's dismay.
"You shouldn't drink that," Cho hinted hoping for once Draco would listen.
Draco scoffed at Cho before downing an entire glass and waving the waiter back for another one.
"That's my man Draco," Theodore snickered clapping Draco on the back before taking another glass of whiskey for himself. "I knew you couldn't stand drinking that sissy stuff for long."
With a deep belly laugh Theodore slowly began to sip his new glass.
_______
Blaise sat in his cell watching the sun rise. He could faintly hear Ginny's sobs through the wall, but Cho had yet to visit her tonight.
As if on cue Blaise heard footsteps coming down the stairwell. Laying back in his bed he closed his eyes waiting for Cho to pass.
"Get up you lazy prat," A distinctly masculine voice slurred banging on Blaise's bars. Slowly, Blaise sat up and opened his eyes, only to be confronted with the sight of a very drunk Draco Malfoy.
"You," Draco drawled pointing at Blaise. "Killed Ginny." The blonde lost his footing and staggered a few steps before grabbing on to a bar and steadying his self.
"You were sup-supps-supposed to be my best friend," Draco slurred grabbing on to another bar with his second hand.
"Draco, Ginny isn't dead," The raven haired man replied watching his friend's reaction.
"Yes she issss," Draco hissed banging the bars in front of his face and letting out a growl of primal rage. "I held her dead body as our house collapsed around us!"
"Ask your blushing bride when she is under a truth spell. Then you will find the real answers," Blaise laid back down on his cot and watched Draco tear up the stairs remarkably fast for a drunk man.
Then again, he had something he hadn't had in a long time, hope.
_______
Cho sat at her vanity slowly brushing her hair. It was 6am and she was just about ready to go to sleep. The party had been beautiful and had carried on into the wee hours of the morning.
Draco had gotten drunk beyond belief and had left early with Theodore, She knew he would turn up sooner or later.
"Immobulus," A voice hissed out of the darkness freezing Cho with her hand in mid stroke. Draco stepped into the light, the candles giving him an ethereal appearance.
Flicking his wrist he cast another spell, a spell that told Cho he knew about Ginny.
"Veritas"