Bed Of Lies

Prologue - Mali Principii Malus Finis

Moonlight streamed in through Ginny’s window, enveloping her room in a soft silvery glow, but it didn’t touch the man who stood in the shadows watching her sleep. He was nearly a shadow himself; so much a part of the darkness that an observer might think him a solid extension of it. As he neared the bed, the moonlight seemed to retreat from him, as if aware that its weak light stood no chance against the blackness in his soul.

Tension filled his entire body. Clenched, tightened muscles caused him to walk jerkily, rather than with his customary grace. His hands flexed convulsively at his sides, so he gripped the bedpost to stop them from moving. The sudden and undue force caused the bed to shake. The man froze as Ginny’s eyes fluttered open and came to rest on him.

"Draco, Love, come to bed," she murmured before drifting back to sleep.

Draco would have given his soul to crawl into that bed, wrap his arms around her, and lose himself again in the lie she had created. But what was his soul worth, anyway? He had no soul but her, he was nothing but what she had created…and he had been happy. But now he knew that everything; their love…his whole life, had been an illusion. The truth was out, innocence betrayed, and he could never sleep in that bed of lies again.

Casting one final glance at his sleeping wife, Draco stepped silently and resolutely out of her bedroom, out of her house, and out of her life. He ambled down the driveway, musing philosophically about the vagaries of fate. Five years ago he could never have imagined that he would spend the night of Voldemort’s defeat celebrating…even being lauded as a hero!

Five hours ago he couldn’t have imagined that anything could ever destroy his love for Ginny, or hers for him.

Clearly he wasn’t gifted in divination, he thought with a wry twist to his lips.

As he walked down the road and off into the night, Draco was extremely proud of himself for having the strength to keep moving forward, not once glancing back at the ruins of his life. It reminded him of one of his father’s maxims from so many years ago. "Make your decisions. Live with the consequences, no whining, no regrets. And above all, Never Look Back."