Ghosts ✔️

Chapter 2

Harry Potter felt like he had lost practically everything after the war. For a boy who barely had anything to start with, losing all he had gained and more really took a toll on him. He didn't think there was a greater pain in the world than finally receiving a caring, loving family, only to have them be cruelly ripped away from you. Harry was drowning. He knew how to swim, but was the effort to stay afloat worth it?

Draco Malfoy felt similarly. Having now been given the choice to return to Hogwarts, he didn't know what to do. Many of his major life decisions had been made for him. Now, he wished someone would choose for him so that he didn't have to take responsibility for his resulting actions. No matter what Draco chose, he feared nothing would be enough to numb the pain of all he had endured.

It was 3am when he had woken up due to another nightmare. A feeling of rage as fiery as the fiendfyre in his dream that had awoken him had built. Draco was tired of his past quite literally coming to haunt him. Yanking open a drawer, he pulled out parchment and slammed it onto the desk. He couldn't change the past, but he sure as hell could work on the present, and maybe, just maybe, fix his future.

"Dear Potter,

I've started and thrown out this letter to you more times than I can count, but enough is enough. I've lived most of my life as a coward, and I refuse to continue living in such a manner, for fear that it will quite literally kill me. I don't know whether to start off by apologizing to you or thanking you.

An apology should probably be given first. I would have preferred to do this in person; if our paths ever do cross again, 'I'm sorry' will almost certainly be the first thing out of my mouth. But alas, I don't know if you're even going to read this letter, let alone entertain the idea of meeting in person.

I regret only being able to thank you after my trial last week, and not being able to apologize. There were too many people; I lost you in the crowd and I figured you wanted to make a scene even less than I did. I'm sorry for ever saying that you were attention seeking and loved the spotlight.

I'm sorry for a lot of things, for everything actually. If I had been kinder to you at our first meeting, I think things could have gone a lot better. The other part of me thinks our friendship would have been doomed from the start and you were safer this way. The past is forever haunting, so I try not to think this way, but you must know better than anyone how I'm feeling, at least partially.

My list of apologies can go on forever. Even though this is a letter, I hope you can detect how sincere it is. I don't expect you to forgive me, but the least I can do for you is to apologize for the added stress and pain I caused you.

I can also thank you for sparing my life on multiple occasions. You could have let me die, but you didn't. Most days I thank you for that. But, if I'm being candid with you for once in my life, nights like tonight I wish you had left me. That's incredibly selfish of me though. Even if we weren't friends, I know I would have been another ghost haunting you.

I'm rambling now I suppose. Even though this isn't a verbal exchange, it's the longest we've ever gone without an insult being thrown. Now, with that being said, I am still a Mafloy. There's nothing much I can do about that. Take care of yourself Scarhead.

Regards,

Draco Malfoy "

Before going to send off the letter, Draco made a quick stop in the kitchen. Anyone who knew Draco, which wasn't anyone anymore really, knew that he had a massive sweet tooth. After so many years of Potter stalking and watching, Draco knew he did as well. The last thing Draco ever thought he would be doing at 4am was sending Harry bloody Potter a care package, but here he was.

He released a breath he didn't even know he was holding as he watched his owl fly away into the night. Either the biggest mistake or the best thing he had ever done in his life had just happened. Praying it was the latter, he crawled back into bed.