Voldemort had stripped him of his mark without second thought. "A gift," he’d said, because the alternative—death—was a far less appealing option. Draco had been told it was a kindness by some, a mark of his damnation by others. He’d long since learned that his status was far from satisfactory to the masses, so he embraced the lower-profile of his life without the mark, but he didn’t particularly appreciate the vulnerability it awarded him. Still, he used it to his advantage.