A New Day Has Come

A New Day Has Come

Prologue- The Letter

Present Day

Voldemort has been defeated. The terror is gone. The pain is gone. Wizards and witches don't have to worry about coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over their houses. They don't have to worry about coming home and finding their loved ones slaughtered like pigs.

They can live--people are allowed to LIVE again. They are free. I am free. I've found freedom again. Where there was darkness in my life, there is light.

Though it is hard for me to say this love, I've moved on. I've found someone else. She is your best friend. Was your best friend. She is terrific, but I know I will never fully recover from losing you.

You were the first to help me find that light, that joy, that peace, that freedom. The strength of your unwavering love pulled me out of the darkness and into the light. I would be still lost if it wasn't for you, my love. You put faith in me when no one else did. You listened to my troubles, my fears, my regrets.

You wiped away my tears whenever I shed them, which wasn't often. I was raised to show no emotion. I was raised to keep it all locked away. But you found the key somehow and changed that. Hell, you changed a lot of things. You molded me into who I am today.

I remember the first time I saw you, my love. It was our sixth year, on the Hogwarts Express. You were sitting with that bloody Potter and his gang. Sorry, I know they were your friends.

They still don't trust me, you know. Even after you released my heart from the clod, steel cage it had been hidden away in, they still didn't accept me. They thought the kind, caring, loving Draco Malfoy was all an act.

You taught me that love doesn't make you weak, it makes you strong. They didn't believe the change. But you did, love. And I felt it. Oh God I felt it so much.

Then, when you died, it all vanished. I became cold and heartless again. All the horrible things I did...I pray every day for forgiveness. It's so hard to live with myself. No wonder the Weasleys hate me. You know what I did. You know how I felt. It was as though the impact you had on my life made no difference whatsoever.

But those days are long gone. I'm a kind, caring, and loving person again. With another person's help, I became the man that I was when you were around. She helped me find that light, that joy, that peace, that freedom, once more.

And I fell in love with her, something I didn't think could ever happen after you. But it did. God sent me an angel, a miracle. She and I will be getting married in the spring, we'll start a family, and I'll get on with my life.

But, in order to do all that, I have to leave you behind. I don't want to, Rachel, I really don't, but you once said that if you ever died, I would have to. I often wonder if you knew all along that you were going to die, that you had to die.

But even though I'm marrying someone else, you will always have a place in my heart. I never told you, something that I deeply regret now, but I love you. But I figured you already knew that, didn't you? You always had a way of knowing things.

I have to go now. A new day has come for me. A new life.

Draco Malfoy carefully folded the tattered parchment after reading it for the last time, and tenderly placed it into an envelope. Pulling his black cloak around his slender frame, he knelt down beside the marble gravestone, the crisp autumn leaves crinkling beneath his feet.

He swiped away the leaves at the base of the gravestone and leaned the letter against it. The red rose he held in his hand had been her favorite flower, and he held it up to his nostrils, inhaling the overbearing scent. Then he set it too, at the base of the gravestone as his eyes wandered to its lettering.

Here Lies Rachel Dumbledore

Born: 1986 Died: 2003

A Light and Joy to all those who

ever knew her. May her spirit Live

forever in Paradise.

Draco stood up, blinking the heart wrenching details of her death away with his tears. He told himself now was the time to walk away, but he was rooted to the spot. He couldn't tear himself away from her. He couldn't. It was like leaving a part of his soul.

"Draco?" The voice of his fiancee was faint, but it was loud enough to remind him of what he was here to do--leave. It was all the encouragement he needed.

"Coming," he said, his steps toward her content and at peace. He was walking away, leaving Rachel behind forever. Sure, he would visit her grave every week, but these steps were trails that led to a new life, steps that would allow him to move on.

"Are you okay?" his fiancee asked, hugging him tightly. Draco noticed the quiver in her voice, the redness of her eyes. She felt his pain. She had been Rachel's best friend. She too was taking a step toward a new life.

"I'm fine," Draco said, and he truly felt it. He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I have you and that's all I need."

She looked up at him, her brown eyes shining with warmth and glistening with tears. Standing on tiptoe, she gave him a sweet kiss, and then pulled away from the shelter of his arms. "Are you ready to go?" she said.

"Meet you at the Burrow?" he said. "Molly is probably expecting us, even if her youngest son doesn't ever want to see me."

"Draco, don't do that to yourself. All that happened a long time ago."

"He isn't exactly a forgiving person."

His fiancee frowned. "He's just going to have to accept it," she said, Disapparating with a small 'pop'.

Draco turned to face Rachel's grave and her let out a sigh. Then he spoke four words that sealed the decision that he had made to leave her behind. He said them very quietly, ignoring the harsh breeze that swirled around him, causing him to shiver, and the leaves that circled around him as a result. He said, "I have Hermione now."