Warning: Spoilers for HBP This story takes place after Half Blood Prince. If you didn't manage to read that yet, there will be MAJOR SPOILERS ahead. Hey, don't say I didn't warn ya. Once again…Warning: Spoilers for HBP
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in Harry Potter. It belongs to J.K. Rowling, or to its rightful owners. Sadly, I own nothing.
Summary: It's the seventh year of Hogwarts. What's happened to the school now? How will the students deal with the tragic events that had happened the year before? Why is Draco back and how does Harry deal with him? HPDM
Chapter 1
Reflections of the Past
An arm grabbed at Draco's wrist and continued pulling him forward. People were shouting as movements of running and panic filled the nighttime air. Draco looked around trying to clear his mind. Shadows danced on the dimly lit walls, along with slivers of light from the silver moon. It made everything seem eerie, somehow unreal, like a dream. Bodies of the injured, not to mention the dead, lay on the cold wooden floor, obstructing his retreat. He felt his heart beating nonstop. His vision blurred as his breaths came in short gasps. Draco knew that he had to get out of there. He had done something horrible he could not yet face. No, he didn't even want to think about it. He refused to accept it. So the only thing he could do was to keep on running.
A voice called his name, telling him to go through the door, the portal to safety. Another look towards the place he ran from. It was like a veil being removed from his mind as everything he had done in the past few months became clear. He had tried to lie to himself, tried to delay this awful night he knew would change the Wizarding world forever. But fate would not let him run from this.
He reflected back on the years he spent at this school. The students, the teachers, and all the fun they had at tormenting the 'lower classed' classmates. The many times he sat at the Slytherin table just to leer and crack jokes at the muggle-born population of the school; the way the other students either ran at the sight of him, or stared in complete awe; even the lake where he found it to be most peaceful at night; it all became his second home. Without realizing it, he grew to love this place called Hogwarts.
'Now look what you've done,' Draco thought bitterly. He had brought utter chaos to his own beloved school. The usually squeaky clean floorboards were now streaked with dirt and smears of blood. Students, roused from their warm snuggly beds, ran out in fright and alarm, many with bewildered looks on their faces. Faculty members were cursing and hexing at the death eaters. People here and there were falling randomly to the ground. Were they all dead, or alive but severely injured? Draco didn't know. He only felt a pang of deep regret and sorrow as he turned his back to the only place where he's ever felt acceptance and hope. 'Goodbye, everyone. I'm sorry I was too weak to stop this.' Draco Malfoy, now a death eater, thought as he stepped into the door. He didn't even notice when a single tear made its way down his cheek.
Harry evaluated the decision over and over again, but unable to come to a conclusion. He had put the pros and cons into a neat chart in his head. He had counted the consequences and possibilities of each action. The only thing he had to factor in was his own individual feelings, and that swayed the vote drastically to one side.
Ever since the second Dumbledore had fallen, Harry knew that everything would change. Every year, he looked forward to Hogwarts. It was an escape from the Dursleys, a place where his real life began. The adventures he would have, the joy of seeing his friends, the feeling of safety and security, it all resided inside the school. 'But then,' Harry thought, 'all good things must come to an end.'
The Headmaster was the only one keeping the dark lord at bay. It was no secret that Voldemort both feared and detested the old wizard. Even when Lucius Malfoy had achieved removing Dumbledore from his position, the old man just came right back, and in greater force. It's been six years since Voldemort came back into power. And throughout those years, Dumbledore was able to fend off his attacks. He not only did that, but he thwarted the dark lord's advancement into both the wizarding and muggle worlds. It was an amazing feat.
"But he had to go and get himself killed." Harry muttered to the empty room.
It was two weeks before the start of another school year. Harry had already received the letter that Hogwarts, in remembrance of Headmaster Dumbledore, would be open for the next school year. The letter stated that even more heavy protective spells had been placed on and around the school grounds. Security would be stricter than before and that all students would be monitored closely. It was a letter convincing parents to let their children back into the school. Harry Potter has no parents to decide for him.
Ron, being the Gryffindor that he is, has already decided to go back to the school. And Hermione decided that she couldn't possibly let Ron go by himself. "As clumsy and brainless as he is, he'll probably get himself killed before You-Know-Who even gets a glance at him." She had said as she replied to the letter. They both gave Harry looks of encouragement, hoping that he would go back just as they decided. But they knew that it was unfair to ask that of Harry. As much as they wanted their green-eyed hero to be back at school, they also knew that it was a dangerous gamble to go back.
Harry's life was already threatened each minute he stayed away from his aunt and uncle, as he refused to stay more than a minute in that house for the summer. He's inherited Grimmald's Place and could stay there all he wants.
Everyone knew that ever since Dumbledore passed away, Voldemort has been renewing his search for the Boy-Who-Lived. If news reached him that Harry Potter was indeed to return to school, there would be no doubt that the school will be attacked once again. This time, without Dumbledore, who knows what could happen?
Harry sighed. He genuinely wanted to go back, to enjoy the last year to its fullest. He wanted to laugh and be worry-free again. Harry took the pen and scribbled the return letter to Hogwarts. Yes, Harry Potter, seventh year, will be returning to Hogwarts. He just hoped that he wouldn't be making the biggest mistake of his life.
---So what do you think? It's just the beginning. I'm planning to write a lot more, but seeing as it is 5 in the morning, I really should sleep. ---