Chapter One
It had been a year since the Dark Lord had been defeated by Harry Potter, some had called it a year of peace but for the Malfoy's it was anything but. Narcissa had saved the whole family from an Azkaban sentence by lying to Voldemort, but that didn't mean the Malfoy's were in societies good graces.
Lucius had trouble finding employment, turns out former Death Eaters aren't in high demand for most places of business. He had told Draco his whole life that he had a position at the Ministry waiting for him after Hogwarts, now they all sat in the Manor in silence.
The Dark Mark on their forearms was a permeant reminder of the 'side' they had chosen. The wrong side.
He had searched every library he could get access to - there was no way to remove it. It was branded on them forever.
It didn't seem fair to Draco that this was his new normal. He didn't have a choice in the side he was on, its not like Voldemort asked him politely to kill Dumbledore with the option of saying no. He either did as he was told or his family died.
He was sure many of his classmates on the light side would have done the same if they had to. But his classmates didn't have a father like Lucius Malfoy.
A man obsessed with status, and power. He would have done anything for the Dark Lord, and Draco was sure that if there was a way to bring him back, his father would do it in a heartbeat.
Even through a war, his parents still stood strong on their blood purity ideals. While conversation was scarce in Malfoy Manor, the rare ones centred around pure blood marriages and matches. Draco was just glad his father wouldn't dare arrange his marriage. He didn't want a wife, let alone someone his father would choose. He'd end up with a pureblood witch that had been raised for marriage, raised to obey his every command.
He was sure a couple of years ago, he would have agreed to that if his father had asked, but now, he wanted nothing to do with him.
His parents had a love marriage, they had fallen in love at Hogwarts and married soon after. Not that there was much love in the household now but he could remember when he was little, and his parents would actually laugh, and they'd spend days outside, taking turns to read to him before bed. If he was to ever marry, he wanted that.
But he couldn't bring someone else into the insanity that was associated with the Malfoy name.
They were considered social pariahs, the family that served the Dark Lord. And that is all they would ever be. It was best the Malfoy name died with him.