"What?"
"You know that old guy that lives over there? Someone told me he was a Dark wizard..."
"You'll believe everything, honestly."
"No, it's true! He fought for You-Know-Who, against The Boy Who Lived, and lost. Maybe that's why he's so cranky."
"He's probably just cranky because he's old." "Another reason
why he's so cranky is 'cause his wife was killed by You-Know-Who.
Murdered right in front of him... or was it his dad that killed her...
I can't remember..." "What a load of rubbish. I don't know why you listen to all the gossip. You know half of it is lies." "They weren't lying!" "Sure they weren't. Now just finish up your assignment and be off with you."
Draco could hear every word they uttered thanks to the eavesdropping spell he had placed on his neighbor's houses. So, they were gossiping about him were they? An old crank, was he? If he had the strength to hex them they'd have leeks growing out of their ears and tongues as long as a toad's. He smirked maliciously at that, but the pleasure he normally would have felt didn't come.
Nothing came easily to him anymore, except feelings of bitterness and regret. He had to drag himself along the ground floor of his Estate House, using a cane for balance. He hated being old and decrepit, much like the home in which he lived. He hated not having any more servants to wait on him, because he had wasted so much money tonk, was he? If he had the strength to hex them they'd have leeks growing out of their ears and tongues as long as a toad's. He smirked maliciously at that, but the pleasure he normally would have felt didn't come.
Nothing came easily to him anymore, except feelings of bitterness and regret. He had to drag himself along the ground floor of his Estate House, using a cane for balance. He hated being old and decrepit, much like the home in which he lived. He hated not having any more servants to wait on him, because he had wasted so much money to keep himself from becoming sober right after Luna died. Now, he barely had enough left to pay forbasic necessities, like being paid a weekly visit by his private Healer, or adding to his enormous racing broom collection.
Flying was his only relief, as it was the only time he felt younger and more carefree. His Healer warned him constantly about flying, because his bones were too brittle now to heal properly in case he should fall. He still did dangerous dives and loops about his grounds, as it was his only excitement.
He had lost everything, because he chose what was easy. He had chosen to continue his relationship with the one witch he had ever truly cared about, even though it would put her in great danger. He chose not to end it with her, because he couldn't bear to hurt her feelings and it was easier that way. Then he chose to join the Dark Lord's cause, because it was what his father expected of him. Then his own father had burst into his and Luna's room on their wedding night, and killed her without a second thought.
He felt immense sorrow. He should have just broken it off with Luna, that way she would have had a chance to live out her life. Instead, he was living because he had made a stupid decision. It didn't seem fair. The only thing other than flying that was keeping him going was the words that she had spoken to him a few months before they married...
"I know my mother isn't really gone, and that I'll see her one day... If we ever get separated, I know we'll be together again eventually. It's only a matter of time. You should just have faith in that, and us."
From the moment she left him, he waited. He waited as he saw the children of his classmates go off to Hogwarts with each other, with an ache in his heart because no little Lunas or Dracos would join them. He waited until wrinkles claimed his skin. He waited until his back got so hunched over that he could no longer swagger. He waited until he became permanently attached to the cane that his hand desperately grasped every morning. He waited until he went so blind that he could no longer read The Quibbler in her honour. He waited as he was slowly forgotten by everyone that mattered to him.
However, it wasn't until he did indeed see her again, that he finally had faith.
A/N: This is dedicated to those of you who harass me while I wait for my betas to send back the latest chapter of Frozen Serenity. Tell me what you think of the difference between this and most other D/L fics (including my own), I'm curious to find out. ;)