A Moment of Bravery

A Moment of Bravery

I was at your funeral.

I went alone, because I knew none of the Gryffindor’s would come. There were a few Slytherin’s there: Pansy and Crabbe and Goyle. And Snape. He stood at the very back, his black robes whipping in the light wind. I guess he actually sort of liked you. Your mum and dad stood at the front, right by your grave. Your mum just stared at it. Your dad...your dad did nothing- but I saw the glint in his eye. That vile bastard. I know what he did.

I remember everything. I remember that night- the way the wind blew quietly through the forest; warm, inviting. The way the sunset faded to pink in the west, and the air smelt like rain and growing and life. The way you stood before your father, and looked him in the eye.

“I’ll never be you. I'll never be a Death Eater.”

I even heard the spell, how he whispered it, gently, tenderly. Crucio. You didn’t scream. And I remember how I couldn’t move, I just couldn’t make my legs work, to step forward, to take out my wand. Even when he kept doing it. Again. And again.

You were never a brave boy. But that night, when your father murdered you- in that moment- I’ve never seen someone braver. You should have been a Gryffindor I suppose.

I stood a little way away during the service; ‘mudbloods’ certainly wouldn’t have been welcome. And I waited until everyone had left- I didn’t have to wait long- before I approached your little headstone. A bunch of irritatingly bright flowers were covering your grave, and I pushed them aside to read the inscription.

DRACO MALFOY

1980-1997

GREATLY MISSED

I sighed. I knew the words were a lie. No one would miss Malfoy. He was rude, arrogant, and cruel. He had no real friends, and no real parents. No one cried for him. No one knew how bravely he had died.

Digging into my bag, I set an object on the top of the headstone and stared at it. It was a tiny statue of a lion, with a snake coiled around its front paw. I had stumbled on it once, in the library; it had been shoved behind some books. Gryffindor and Slytherin together. What a thought.

The sun isn’t shining today, and the first drops of rain fall. I don’t much care. I did hate you- you were cruel; you knew how your words cut me and still you strived to make them sharper. But that night when you stood against your father...things change, Malfoy. I wish I could have made myself help you, save you, so things could have been different. No one deserves to die like that.

Finally I stand and take a last look at your lonely grave before leaving the cemetery. I know I’ll never come back. But I just thought I’d let you know that I came. That the little statue was mine. That when no one else cried for you, I did. Big, rolling tears of regret. That I’m not going to forget what you did.

That I cared.