Hello, all. This first chapter is a bit slow, if you ask me. But don't worry, it will heat up FAST. Wow, if you've clicked on this to read it, I would just like to mention how much I love you! Oh and this takes place after Harry etc. 6th year and Dumbledore is NOT dead.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all. I wished I owned Draco Malfoy for my own devices, but you win some, you lose some.

Anyway, here is A Phoenix Does Not Fear The Ashes, Chapter One: Goodbye.

P.S. if you like to listen to music while reading, which I do, I suggest listening to Goodbye by Sr-71.

Understand I'm born to lead you will follow

I don't wanna stay

I'm running away

Don't you hear me when I say?

Goodbye

So long

Nice try

I'm gone

You don't like being second

I don't like being wrong

I won't forget the way you made me feel

I won't regret running away from here

So I'll say goodbye again

-Sr-71, Goodbye

Draco paced back and forth in the empty and cold foyer, wearing his muggle clothes; he reached one side of the room and turned, starting towards the other side. He needed a plan. He couldn't stay any longer. He wouldn't survive. He had to runaway. He couldn't become a Death Eater. And he knew his father would make him. It was the Malfoy way, their tradition. Their legacy. Draco snorted; "the legacy of my family is to rape and murder innocent people. It's disgusting." Draco wanted no part of it. Sure, he used to idolize his father, used to do what he asked, not even out of fear, out of respect. But now, Draco couldn't stand to look at him. Draco turned again, making his way back towards the other wall. When he was younger, Draco had wanted to become a Death Eater, but he'd been foolish, he hadn't known how despicable those people were, how despicable his family was. Draco had seen the light some years ago, before he had been asked to kill his Headmaster. He had realized that he could never be like his father, no matter that he was raised to be Lucius' clone. He didn't have the stomach to rape someone; to force them into something like that was disgusting. Draco had never had to do something like that; women were constantly throwing themselves at him, on several occasions literally. But to rape someone was so barbaric; Draco couldn't understand why his father would like to do that. Wait, yes he could. His father was the spawn of the devil, especially on his bad days. Especially when Draco embarrassed him. Especially in front of the Dark Lord. Draco stopped pacing. What was he doing? He had to get out. Fast. His father was going to force him to become a Death Eater within the next few days. To become the thing he hated most. To become like Lucius.

Draco had already packed; he'd been packed since coming to the Manor for summer vacation. He'd never unpacked, really. All he needed was an escape plan. The Death Eaters were monitoring the floo network, so that was out of the question. And he couldn't apparate without tipping them off to where he was going either. He'd have to fly. Draco, relieved he'd finally thought of a plan, started slinking towards the kitchen. His father was never in there; he didn't like to associate himself with the help, unless it was to harass them, of course. Draco shook his head in disgust. He quietly walked towards the servants' entrance at the back of the kitchen. The door led off to the large backyard, which was where Draco could get access to his broom and finally run. Finally. Freedom was just a few hundred feet away. As Draco put his hand on the doorknob, a voice behind him spoke.

"Going somewhere Draco?" He froze. Shit. Lucius.

"Yes, actually, Father, I am." Draco drawled, while turning.

Lucius had his wand drawn and aimed at Draco's face. "I won't allow it. I won't allow you to embarrass me further, Draco." Lucius' face was wearing the patented Malfoy family mask. The one they were trained from birth to perfect, to hide their emotions and thoughts under.

Draco quickly checked to make sure his emotions weren't showing either. Draco's hand slowly inched towards his wand. Fast, like Lucius had taught him, he drew his wand, trained it on Lucius and slipped into his offensive stance.

As soon as Lucius registered that Draco had aimed his wand, he Crucio'd his only son and watched him writhe on the ground in agony.

Draco saw the streak of red and mentally prepared himself. He didn't scream, he'd felt worse from his father, most memorably after he had failed to kill Dumbledore. It was like every nerve had been dipped in alcohol and set on fire. But it wasn't the worse. No, his father wouldn't waste his worse this soon in the fight.

Lucius waved the spell off after 30 seconds, with a bored expression on his face.

Draco quickly returned to his stance, he was determined to escape tonight. He couldn't stay. Draco returned fire with an Expelliarmus. It missed, he knew it would. He was trying to keep Lucius preoccupied.

Lucius jumped out of the way of the Expelliarmus, laughing at his pathetic son.

While his father laughed, Draco quickly shot a second spell, this one a full body bind, knowing full well his father would jump out of the way again. But Draco wasn't aiming for his father. He was aiming for what was behind Lucius. For what had been revealed when Lucius jumped out of the way the first time. A mirror.

As Draco threw another charm at him, Lucius laughed again. When would the boy learn? When would he stop throwing his pathetic enchantments and charms and use something worth Lucius' time? Lucius jumped to the right of the charm and then took a step back into his original position. Suddenly, Lucius couldn't move. He was falling onto his face. The boy had hit him. But how?

"You forget, Father. You taught me everything you know. I'm even cleverer than you. You should be more aware of your surrounding next time. Spells bounce off of reflective material. I should thank Narcissa for her egotistical personality. If it wasn't for her, that mirror wouldn't have been there."

Narcissa. Goddamned woman. She insisted on having mirrors in every room, so that she could stare at her reflection, no matter where she was in the house. Lucius would beat her for this one. He knew Draco wouldn't kill him. The boy didn't have the guts.

"Goodbye Father." Draco calmly left the room, though inside he was shaking. As soon as he was outside, he took off running. He wasn't sure how long that body bind would last, especially with his nerves so frayed. Draco hadn't slept for more than 3 hours a night in 5 weeks, since he had returned to the Manor for summer. Since he had returned to Lucius' presence. Since Lucius had continued beating him. Every night.

Draco picked up his pace. He could see the broom shed now, though it wasn't much of a shed really. It could house a family of 4 comfortably. Draco wrenched open the door and bolted inside. There were around twenty brooms inside. But Draco knew which he wanted. His Nimbus 2001. The fastest broom in the world.

Draco crossed the broom shed to the far wall, grabbed the Nimbus and sprinted back outside. Draco looked over his shoulder. He saw his father marching angrily towards him across the lawn. Lucius had shaken off the charm, then. Draco smirked; he'd make it out of here. Lucius wasn't as fast on a broom as Draco and Draco could dodge his spells in the air. He wasn't the Slytherin seeker for nothing. Draco started running, leaped into the air and in one move placed the broom under his body. Draco swiftly gained altitude, putting space between him and his father.

Down below, Lucius was yelling in rage and blindly shooting off curses. "Damned boy, he's going to embarrass me again, eh? Let's see if he can handle a Cruciatus in mid-air", Lucius thought as he shot the curse towards his son.

Draco saw the Cruciatus come and swerved his broom towards the right. He was almost towards the large forest that surrounded the estate, where Lucius wouldn't be able to hit him with curses. Draco turned around and yelled to his father "Goodbye Father, give my regards to Mother, would you?"

And with that, Draco turned, facing the future, not once looking back at his past, laughing the entire time at the look on his fathers face at his last words. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew it had to be better than from where he had just escaped.

If you would like to review, I would greatly appreciate it. Let me know if anything needs fixing. Chapter 2 should be up VERY soon. As I said earlier, I've already written like 5 chapters.

-Katy