Draco opened his eyes and lowered his legs from the top of his office desk. The drowsy man got up to stretch his arms and walked over towards the window that revealed a tranquil oceanic view.

Sigh

He had sacrificed so much.

Years ago, as a kid, he had been forced to sacrifice his childhood. Kids of his age would played carelessly, make mistakes and live without any fear, Draco Malfoy did was his parents said. He did exactly what they ordered him to do. Never had his prejudiced father allowed him to live a normal life. Ever since he could remember, his father claimed to be superior than others. And as if that wasn't enough, he took it all several steps further and claimed muggleborns to be inferior to those who were of pure magical ancestry. He, being nothing but a little, immature child, couldn't tell the different at first; Pureblood… muggleborn, what difference did it make? …Weren't they all humans?

He tried! He tried to make sense of out of his father's logic, but it just made no sense.

Then all of a sudden, as if he had been cast with some anti-muggle spell, his ideology and perspective began to change. All of a sudden, his life was black and white. People were either good or bad. He began to think, behave and do everything like his father. He actually started to believe that those with less money were lower than him and those with non-magical parents were lower than all. They were practically scum and unworthy of place in his Wizarding world.

Normally, a child around the age of five did not live life based on such cruel ideologies but Lucius Malfoy's son was another story. Draco was in fact the most prejudiced kid amongst all other children of his age.

He had spent seventeen years living a restricted life under the control of his demanding father and finally, after the second Wizarding war ended, things began to seem hopeful. He could have started a new life with new beliefs that lead to a bright future. Instead, he decided to continue with what had been in his family line for centuries. It wasn't easy considering the conditions of the Wizarding world because he couldn't openly be the person who he used to be. He was publicly ridiculed along with his entire family

However, Draco started all over to bring his family the respect it had lost during Voldemort's reign. All that he had been made to believe was crushed with that one decision. But like people often say, in order to gain something, you must sacrifice as well. And that's exactly what he did, yet again…

Sacrifice. . .

His beliefs, his morals, his ego, his name… Everything! Only to gain the recognition he once had. The war may have changed him as an individual but there was one feeling he would never be able to rid himself of; not that he wanted to anyway.

Voldemort or no Voldemort, he just couldn't stand her presence in his world. Sadly, he couldn't do anything about it and he wouldn't dare try either seeing how much the people favored her. To be honest, he was confused about it all but he never tried acknowledging the confusion.

Things had changed indeed but his father was the same. Yes, Lucius Malfoy was alive and hearty despite all that had happened in the past. More importantly, the way Lucius's presence still affected Draco's life was just like the bad old days. For some, Voldemort's defeat marked the beginning of a new life but, for others like Lucius, it symbolized vengeance. Yes, Lucius wanted revenge… for all his fellows who had been killed. There was no chance Lucius would ever get rid of his prejudice. Draco didn't blame him though, because like himself, his father had also had a prejudiced upbringing; probably even worse.

Draco always though about the past. The world had changed, including its people. Many of the citizens had more rights than ever before while others were still paying for all the damage they had done in the previous years. Draco was thankful that his phase of punishment was over.

Every day he vowed to never look back at all the darkness. Instead, he tried as hard as he could to prioritize his new life. His life that he now shared with a certain brunette; his lawfully wedded wife.

But some memories were too alive to be forgotten.

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Knock knock

"Come in." Draco groaned, not turning his gaze from the ocean.

The door swiftly opened and in came a lean, dark skinned man. It was not until he coughed to declare his presence that Draco turned away from the window.

"Blaise."

"Draco." The man greeted with a smirk. "And how is the owner of Malfoy Enterprises doing today?"

Draco let out a soft chuckle. "It's been over a month since father passed me the responsibility of his business, mate. When will you stop rubbing it in my face?"

Blaise shook his head, letting out a small laugh.

Draco returned his usual smirk. "You know, things are a lot harder when you're the one in charge."

"Sounds like you're not happy with your promotion, son." Blaise mimicked Lucius. "Or you're just too lazy?"

Draco shook his head. "That's not the case, Blaise. It's just that it has been quite a hectic month, especially with all that has been going on at home… err, you know what I mean."

Draco scratched his forehead to hide his slight embarrassment. "I mean, it's not easy bringing a company back from the ruins, especially when people know who we were in allegiance with. The war has ruined everything for us."

"Yea…" Blaise whispered. "I know."

An awkward silence fell between the two friends.

"Well," Blaise was the one to break the silence. "…to answer your previous question, the moment my dad hands his business over to me, I shall stop teasing you about your grand promotion. Got that, mate?"

Draco raised his right brow and smirked. "Yea, about that… father was telling me he had a talk with your dad and from what he told him, you might be getting yourself a promotion quite soon."

Blaise let out a cough. "What? You're joking!"

"No, I'm quite serious. But don't rely on my words."

Blaise casually sat on a nearby recliner and leaned back, placing his hands behind his head. "Blaise Zabini, new head of Zabini Corporation. That sounds attractive."

Draco simply shook his head at his friend's immaturity and went to sit, once again on his comfortable, leather armchair.

"So, Mr. Malfoy… What's next?"

Blaise' question hit him like a bludger. He could tell exactly where this conversation was heading. The proud, former Slytherin attempted to ignore his friend's question by hiding his face behind a newspaper and pretending to read.

"I know you can hear me, you bastard!" Blaise joked, his tone slightly harsh.

Draco looked up at his Blaise, who now appeared to be serious. "What do you mean, Blaise?"

"I'm talking about your wife…

Tension filled the atmosphere.

Draco lowered his head towards the Daily Prophet yet again, except that he wasn't reading anymore. He was waiting for Blaise to continue.

"Draco Abaraxus Malfoy, are you honestly going to ignore my question?"

The blond, grey eyed man didn't reply which lead to yet another sigh being let out by Blaise. If things weren't awkward enough before, they definitely were now!

"Draco." He repeated in a more serious tone, leaning onto the table.

"What, Blaise?" Draco snapped. "We've been through this before, haven't we?"

"We have, but I don't give a shit because we're discussing this, no matter what."

"Are you trying to interfere with my personal life, Zabini." He finally spat.

The two friends glared at each other.

"I happen to have become a part of your personal life, mate."

Draco raised his right brow while saying, "Oh yeah… Since when?"

"Since we first met, 26 years ago… Since we became best mates and especially since five years ago, when your wife told me that she considered me both her brother and a friend."

"Mate, I'm not even 26 yet…"

"My point is that I've known you since forever!" Blaise replied, irritatingly. "…From when we were barely one, man! That's a whole lot of fucking time, if you ask me!"

Draco glared at his friend and then calmed down, looking towards a rolled piece of parchment.

"In that case, Draco, I have every right to know what you do with your life and your wife's; I mean, she's practically a sister to me! All jokes aside."

"You two really like each other, don't you?" Draco didn't look up at his friend who was now smiling a little.

"Strange isn't it… All those years ago at Hogwarts, I hated her like hell! And now-"

"Now you're so protective of her that you'd even go as far as Avada-ing me if her life depended on it."

"Chill mate, I just… I don't want her to be sad anymore."

Draco remained quiet.

"You two have been through a lot."

Draco rolled his eyes and handed over the rolled parchment to Blaise who eyed it skeptically.

"Go on, open it."

Blaise did as he was told and read the parchment with widened eyes. It took him merely a second to register what the parchment said.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Blaise shouted, throwing the parchment onto the floor. "You're giving her a divorce?!"

Draco simply stared at his bewildered friend with amused eyes and smiled.

"What the hell, Draco?" Blaise continued. "Damn you! I- Merlin, I can't believe this."

Blaise started pacing around the room with quick steps waiting for Draco to explain himself.

"I thought after all these years, maybe you had grown used to her, Draco."

"I have."

"Then why, in the name of Merlin, are you divorcing her?"

"Blaise, I have grown used to her but in no way does it mean that I have stopped hating her."

"Of course…" Blaise sighed. "You may have married her, mate, but you've never treated her like a wife. You've never called her by her proper name. You've never had a normal, heart-filled conversation with her. Damn it, you don't even know when her birthday is."

"I do."

"Oh yea, when?"

"September… 17-"

"19, Draco."

"I was close enough."

"You really are a bastard!" Blaise spat.

"She told you all those things, right?"

"Wrong… she stopped discussing you with me a long time ago." Blaise said as-a-matter-of-factly. "I'm not blind, mate. I can see how awful things between you and her are."

Draco eyed his friend sternly.

"Merlin, Draco. You've been so unfair to her these past eight years."

"I told her what she was getting herself into!" Draco defended himself.

"You gave her no choice!" Blaise shouted.

Draco rolled his eyes yet again and started scribbling something onto a new piece of parchment.

"Imagine how she felt when you told her you only pretended to be head over heels in love with her so that she'd marry you and help you gain some good name in the Wizarding World." Blaise' eyes were softening up a bit. "You've broken her mate... completely; she was given no choice and yet you have to audacity to say that none of this is your fault!"

"You know nothing!"

"The world didn't need another failed relationship, mate. You should be ashamed."

Silence.

"I wish I never supported you in your so-called marvelous plan all those years ago, Draco. How selfish can u get?"

Silence.

Blaise couldn't help but remember the night of Draco's first anniversary. They had had a celebration just to show the Wizarding world how happy Draco and his wife supposedly were. He, although, was the only one who knew the truth, apart from Draco's parents. Of course, Draco's wife, being the saint that she had always been, pretended to not be able to see through her husband's mask. She had been so happy. That night was the first time Blaise had ever had a close talk with Draco's wife and ever since then, she held an important place in his life.

Blaise snapped back to reality as Draco cleared his throat. "Well… as you have so brilliantly reminded me, her birthday is in four days… should I hand these documents over to her before or after… or how about the day of?"

"Imagine getting divorce papers on your birthday."

"Chill, Blaise. I never took you to be the sentimental type." Draco chuckled.

"Don't you feel any sympathy for her, Draco? Nothing at all?" Blaise sat down again with clenched fists.

"Zabini, are you done yet?!" Draco was losing his patience. "And to answer your question… I do not feel anything for her. She is as useless as filth!"

"You're being childish, Draco."

"You're the one being childish, Blaise. You may have gotten rid of your disliking for her but I haven't. I hate her; always have and always will!"

Blaise looked away from Draco towards the window; the serenity of the ocean's waves calmed him down a tad bit.

"I don't believe you…"

"I only married her so my family could get its lost dignity back! My family hadn't been in a good state after the war ended even though we changed to the light side on the last minute." Draco had a tinge of wrath in his tone. "When people found out that I had married her, they started believing that I had changed. Things have returned to normal ever since!"

"But you're divorcing her now. People will think you've gone haywire again." Blaise still didn't look at Draco; the ocean was hypnotic.

"No they won't. She can't blame our separation solely on me, if you know what I mean."

Blaise buried his face in his hands and took a deep breath.

"Blaise Zabini, I bet you my whole fortune that she'll be delighted when she finds out about the divorce. She'll finally be able to get rid of me. I mean, she isn't really living her life with me, mate! This is only going to give her full freedom."

"Draco-"

"I'm going through with this divorce, Zabini, and that's final!"

"What about Katie?" Blaise blurted.

"What about her?"

"Katherine Jean Malfoy; your daughter. Are you going to give her up as well?"

Draco froze for a split second, his pupils widening but he quickly retrieved himself from the trance and averted his gaze from Blaise, hiding behind a wide smirk.

"Of course. She can take Katherine with her. In case you've forgotten, mate, Katherine is adopted."

"Right…" Blaise replied. "I remember when Katie's parents quite willingly gave her up for adoption. The things people are able to do for the sake of dignity disgusts me."

Blaise shook his raised and Draco raised his brow.

"What is there to be disgusted of, mate?" Draco shook his head. "Her parents were too young to handle the responsibility of a daughter and so they did what every intelligent teen couple would do. They just wanted a better future for their baby."

"A better future with a loving mom, which your wife has truly proved herself to be, and a caring dad. But from what I've seen, you've never even spent a single quality moment with Katherine."

Blaise's emotional rant was beginning to annoy Draco to bits. He couldn't help but remember the time at Hogwarts when Zabini was one of the most crude and heartless people he had known. Now, however, he was the epitome of sappiness!

"Are you trying to revert me from my decision?" Draco snapped.

"Clearly."

"Well guess what? It won't work. I've made my decision so stop trying so hard. And as far as Katherine is concerned, she isn't my real, blood daughter and I couldn't care less about her."

"You're impossible!"

And with that, Blaise exited the grand office leaving behind an irritated and agitated Draco Malfoy.

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Draco got up from his seat, and went to pick up the divorce papers which Blaise had not-so-courteously thrown to the floor. He stared at the several pieces of parchment and rubbed his eyes.

"Damn you, Zabini!"

His conversation with Blaise took him on a walk down memory lane; seven years ago.

So much had happened within these seven years.