The Mirror

It was the first day of the summer holidays and Draco Malfoy sat in his room staring into his mirror. His hands were shaking slightly and he was watching their reflection. As a young boy Draco had often sat in front of the mirror looking for characteristics he shared with his father. He had always looked up to Lucius with a blind devotion and, secretly, he'd always despaired of ever being like him. Today however he could see the likeness. He had sat down and seen reflected back at him his father's blank, forbidding expression. Finally he was growing up, turning into an adult his father would be proud to call his son, but Lucius wasn't there. Draco's hands trembled and he knew that, after all, he wasn't that much like Lucius.

Ever since he had heard of Lucius' arrest Draco had been living in a world that seemed slightly unreal. How could HIS father be in Azkaban? He had hit out at Harry Potter of course, it was his fault Lucius had been captured, that much Draco was sure of. It wasn't just him who had been affected by the events at the Ministry. The whole of Slytherin was on edge. Crabbe's father had been arrested too, Tracy Davies' family had sent her warning that they were being watched carefully and one or two of the younger students had already been removed by their parents. The usual order and hierarchy of the house had been shattered. Even Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass, usually the two most inquisitive and gossipy girls in the year were subdued. As they left, Daphne had turned to look back at Hogwarts as if she would never see the place again and Pansy, pug-nosed, thoughtless Pansy had offered her a chocolate frog and put her arm around her shoulders. If Lucius Malfoy had been arrested then who was safe?

The last weeks of term had been almost unbearable but it wasn't until he had returned to Malfoy Manor that the reality had hit. Lucius wasn't there to meet him from the train, to shout at him for getting cursed, to complain about his marks or to tell him the plans for the holidays. The likeness Draco could now see in the mirror seemed to be mocking him. A painful reminder of what was missing from his home.

Closing his eyes briefly, Draco took a deep breath to try and get himself under control. He didn't have much practice in keeping calm however. All of his life his temper tantrums had been allowed, even encouraged. He thought of Pansy fawning over his injuries and the sympathetic notes and presents from his mother every time anything went wrong and he knew he had to try and put all that behind him and learn to control his temper. He couldn't stop his hands however and, when he opened his eyes again, he started to see another likeness. Draco noticed that his eyes, his expression, was no longer his father's cold stare. Framed by his pale hair Draco saw his mother's features, her high cheekbones and the determined set to her face but he also saw the fear in her eyes and the slight tremble that had afflicted her in the interview she and Draco had just had.

After he had been returned to his normal state Draco had looked for his mother in the main parlour. Uncertain of what to do next without Lucius to guide him he had turned to her but had found her in a state of nervous excitement overseeing the packing up of the room. At his startled exclamation she had explained that they needed to leave, to go to her cousins in France. Draco had complained that he had just returned, he had argued that they couldn't leave his father in prison and he had tried sulking that he didn't like France but it was no good. Narcissa was determined to leave, it was the only way she said, the Malfoy name held just enough power still to get them safely out of the country before everything started. Shouting that he wouldn't go into voluntary exile Draco had stormed off to his room.

Staring into the mirror Draco wondered what he should do now. Suddenly, for the first time in his life, he was on his own. There was nobody to guide him now, to plan his footsteps and to threaten and cajole him into going that way. Should he leave? Should he follow his mother into exile leaving his father in prison like a common criminal? If he stayed what good could he do anyway? He was truly on his own for the first time, thinking like an adult, and he didn't like it at all. He took another deep breath and tried to pull back some dignity, he could feel tears pricking behind his eyelids but he would not let them fall. If the traces of his parents in his face were no help to him that didn't mean he wasn't Draco Malfoy and Draco Malfoy did not cry.

Acknowledging that, at least for now, he could do little to help his father Draco realised the decision was between remaining in his home, with his friends and the world he knew but without his mother, or leaving with her and losing everything else. Despite his newly found adult dignity a sigh of frustration escaped him. He would not cry or scream but he could not switch from such a child to making decisions like this alone. Trying to block out his own face, the features that tied him so closely to both his father and mother, he shut his eyes and hit out blindly at the mirror. With a jolt his hand connected with it and he felt it fall from the table but it never hit the floor. Instead of the crash he was expecting he heard nothing but a soft thud as the mirror was repositioned and then he felt somebody take his hand.

Slowly opening his eyes Draco discovered that he should never have feared making decisions alone. Standing behind him, holding his right hand tightly was Pansy Parkinson. Ever since they were small Draco had though of her as pug-nosed and though he welcomed the attention and his father had reminded him of her heritage Draco had never really thought of her as a friend, someone he wanted to have around. Right now though she was the most welcome sight Draco had ever seen. He knew her parents were probably as tied up as his and yet she was standing there, not smiling or crying or fawning, just standing there her face blank but her eyes full of the same confusion as his were.

As he turned to face her Draco discovered there were others in the room too. Vince and Greg were standing by the fireplace, Blaise was there with his arm around a trembling Tracy, on the edge of the bed perched Millicent looking oddly small for once and even Theo Nott was standing by the door looking slightly uncomfortable. Only Daphne Greengrass wasn't present of the group of Slytherins Draco surrounded himself with.

"Her father took all the family to Switzerland straight from the Express. She had no choice."

Pansy answered before he even opened his mouth and Draco nodded slightly in acknowledgement. They were all in the same situation, all of them knew by now that soon they would have to face the consequences of being members of well-known pureblood families, the consequences of having parents and siblings who were Death Eaters. For now none of them had signed up to anything, perhaps they would and perhaps they wouldn't, for now it didn't matter.

"Is anybody else leaving?"

Draco tried to keep his voice calm and still. His eyes scanned the frightened faces in front of him. There were scratches on Vince's face and Draco knew they had been inflicted by Vince's older brothers, they wouldn't have liked him leaving the Crabbe family home with their father also in prison. Assessing the others, all of whom looked tired but determined he turned his attention back to Pansy.

"No. We're staying. Where else would we go?"

Her tone wasn't bitter as he might have expected, she sounded as if she was merely expressing the facts and, as she said it, Draco knew it was true. Why had he ever thought to leave? Where could he go without these people? They might not be Hufflepuffs but Slytherin knew how to look after its own too and whatever happened they stood a better chance together than alone.

He tugged Pansy so that she sat down on the stool next to him, her body close to his and he leant his head against hers. Without a word she squeezed his hand and from her presence he found words to say to the group, her fawning had caused him to show off many times before but now her quiet presence caused him to show off in another way. She made him strong.

"First things first, any of you who aren't safe... aren't welcome with your parents must find rooms here. If you know anyone else who needs a place then invite them too, there's plenty of room and we're better off all in one place. Secondly we need to know exactly what all our families are doing and how much trouble they're in. Then we can decide what we're doing."

Draco spoke with an authority his voice had never held when he bossed them around in the past and they all listened to him. For the moment their minds were open to the future.

In the mirror there was now reflected two fair heads close together and a group of friends united in fear. Of Narcissa and Lucius there was little trace, the criminal and the exile were left behind. Draco waited to become a part of the world he had known as a child and in which, with Pansy by his side, he would find his own way as an adult.