Never Look Back

A/N: Hey everyone! Well this is going to be the story I will probably be working on for a while or at least until I finish it since I have lost my feeling for A Different View. I hope you enjoy this story as you have my others and if you haven't read my other ones check them out as well if you have the time! The setting for this story really takes places at the end of book 4 and into 5. Please excuse the dark mark part if it's not what really happens. I really have no idea how the dark mark actually works, but this is my best guess.

Chapter 1: Blood

The room held an eerie calm after the battle had taken place. It had finally ended though the two men held their wands at the ready; one half the age of the other, but intellectually older than his age. Blood and tears were smeared across the young man's face as he wiped it away along with the platinum blonde hair blinding his view of the room. The father looked in disgust at his own son having turned on him. He had thought he had raised his son well enough to be become a true Death Eater and serve Voldermort without a second thought. But the son had begun to think other wise.

Blood had been slain from the woman lying on the floor, having met an untimely death. She had died at the hands of her own lover defending her son. Having looked upon the scene the young man's eyes filled with pain as tears rolled silently down his cheeks. Anger soon took over that pain as he realized that she was truly gone. That he would never see that motherly smile ever again saddened and angered him even more. But even her death could be brought down onto him partially. If he had not fought with his father she would not be lying in a pool of her own blood.

The son fell to his mother side beginning to cry. He hugged her tightly wanting to receive the same feeling back but knowing he would not made him cry harder. As the young man cried for his mother the father stood taller as he saw the look on the young man's face and gracefully walked across the room to the son. He looked down upon the young man with pity for not being enough of a man to endure his own mother's death.

"You've always been a waste of my time Draco. I've raised you since you were a little boy to become one of us; to become something greater than just the average witch or wizard. Draco, do you realize how much of an advantage you could have over anyone else? You could have the power to give others life or death. Yet you choose to go a different direction, away from becoming a Death Eater. And I can't figure out why you would choose to do so. So why don't you tell me; fill me in on the secret I have not heard." The words his father spoke clouded his mind. He began to be unable to remember what he was fighting for. But then the scene he had seen at the Quidditch World Cup after the Death Eaters had attacked came into his mind and he remembered what he was fighting for. He was fighting against the cruelty and horror that was filled in the life of a Death Eater.

He could remember that night as clear as day. Seeing the expressions of all those running away and the look on Hermione's face, that mudblood his father had told him he was supposed to hate, and then having the feeling of regret for having joined the Death Eaters on that night. Not only did the look on Hermione's face that day haunt him, but also the look on her friends' faces. Harry Potter, the boy who lived, looked as if he had finally realized that that night could have been the end for him… That night Draco had realized that he never wanted to be part of this ever again. He did not want to be the one who was part all the madness to the families who lost loved ones for he did not want to experience it himself.

Luicus stood waiting for the answer that never past his son's lips. Draco was not brave or bold enough to tell his father the truth. He couldn't tell his father what he believed. He wasn't strong to endure his father's wrath.

"Well since you are unable to tell me why it is you wish not to become a Death Eater I will be forced to make sure you receive the dark mark. Tonight." Luicus said as he roughly jerked Draco by the arm to stand beside him and apparated him to the graveyard at which Voldermort was currently residing. The fellow Death Eaters soon appeared knowing why Lucius had brought his only son along with him. He was to receive the dark mark.

"Draco here wishes to join the Death Eaters and wreak havoc on muggles and wizards alike. He wishes to have the dark mark." Luicus said feeding on the attention of his fellow Death Eaters. Voldermort then stood and walked over to Draco sneering at the face of the innocent young man untainted by the evil of becoming a Death Eater. The leader of the Death Eaters took out his wand then placing it upon the skin of Draco and watching as it burned the tender skin of the man leaving the impression of the dark mark that is shown on every Death Eater. Draco began to scream in agony and frantically trying to free his arm from Voldermort's tight grasp. The smell of burned skin reached Draco's nose making him want to gag while still screaming. The Death Eaters that were standing around the scene began to laugh in amusement at the young man's torment.

Once Voldermort released Draco's arm the young man collapsed falling to the ground.

"You're now one of us Draco." Lucius said to his son before he apparted back to the Manor well aware of the fact that his son would be able to aparaate back to the Manor when he became able to. The fellow Death Eaters followed Voldermort back to the house at which he retreated to while still recovering back to his true self.

Once Draco regained his strength he rose from the ground and moved towards a gravestone to lean against. His heart wrenched in his chest as the scenes from the night flashed back in his mind. The death of his mother who had loved him so dearly was now gone and now this. The dark mark was evident across his skin as he raised his long black sleeve shirt up on his left arm, shocked to see it move and glow like it was alive. He wanted to scream and shout but he knew if he were to do so here, there would be consequences. He didn't want to have Voldermort to be coming after him because he drawled attention to the area by screaming.

Draco then wanted to run away more than anything else. But he also had no where to go. He decided he would go back and pack his things seeing as there was only less than a month left before it was time to go back to Hogwarts. He decided that he would try to stay in a few different hotels somewhere maybe even in the Muggle world if he had too. But as he began to think he decided that going to the Muggle world would be best. To get away from that house and also too not allow the Death Eaters to find him as fast as they would if he stayed in the area of the Manor.

After apparating back to the Manor, Draco gathered his things and pondered at the idea of where he would stay in the Muggle world. Although he had much knowledge of their world he really had no idea where would be the best place for him to stay. He decided that he would try to stay in a hotel somewhere in the country away from the city incase the Death Eaters did find him. If they did he would accept with fate.

The desolate landscape of the barren countryside gave way to her summer residence. After being exiled from her house she was sent to her grandmother's for the summer unwillingly. The decision had been final for months since her parents were leaving to go on an extended vacation. Her grandmother was a very kind and caring person but once she learned of Hermione's attendance at Hogwarts, the tables turned. The kind and caring person she once knew faded quickly into something she never saw; never discovered before. The words that emitted from her mouth became unspeakable in Hermione's mind. Those words cut deep and knew how to shear her heart into pieces in all the right places.

Her grandmother then distanced herself from her granddaughter; not sure what to expect from her knowing this new secret. She stayed away from the house longer making Hermione feel unwanted and abandoned which was probably what her grandmother was going for. She wanted to leave more than anything, to get away from the house that became her only friend and yet her own demise in the process. She was so sick of being alone and then listening to the rude remarks made about Hermione's school and her friends. She just wanted to get away before she was on the brink of her own emotional breakdown. But before she could be able to leave she would have to have words with her grandmother and she already knew how that was going to end up going.

She packed her things carefully and quickly, making sure that she didn't forget anything of importance. She stalked down the hall then quietly as she could trying to not make a sound to awaken her grandmother sleeping in the next room. As she closed in on the door, she quickly unlocked the door and stepped outside to the cold chilly air. A wave of shock came over her once she finally realized what she had done. She was finely out; after having been there for the last two months. It was over. She wouldn't have to listen to any more insults, no more ramblings on how bad it is to go to Hogwarts...to be part of something like that.

But as soon as the wave of shock departed a new feeling of loneliness became apparent in her mind. The cold was beginning to sweep into her being and take hostage of her own body. She had no where to go and no place in sight to stay. She didn't really know if she had made the right decision anymore...

Draco walked up to the cheap motel that looked as if it had been there for ages. The thought of the the dingy motel made him want to throw up. He knew there would be roaches somewhere in that room and that sickened him greatly. Unfortunately he had no where else to go... He walked to the counter quickly, handing the man a crisp one hundred dollar bill. The man's look carried a shocked expression at recieving such money as he handed Draco the key to his room.

Once he reached the door he stepped inside thinking he would see a mattress halfway on the floor but instead he was greeted with a room that sparkled with cleanliness in every way. He layed down on the bed, his hands going behind his head. He thought of what happenned today letting those thoughts pass into his mind over and over again. Tears began rolling down his cheeks as he thought of the look on his mother's face as she realized what was finally coming. He wished he would have never seen that face and it made him go angry in how his own father did that to her. Though there was nothing he could do at the time he couldn't get over the fact that he believed that he was at fault for letting her die. Afterall there was no one else present as it happenned.

A knock sounding at the door, alarming Draco from his pondering. He rose slowly from the bed, making sure he had his wand at ready just incase. The knocking began to start again and at a much faster pace; like someone needed help. He reached for the handle to find the same man he met earlier at the door.

"You have to help me! There's this girl lying on the side of the road! It looks as if she has been beaten. There's no one else here that could help me so I'm begging you to help me make sure she's alright." The man was out of breath already but after talking at such a rate he had to lean over to calm down.

"Its alright. I'll help you. Could you describe her to me? Is it someone that lives in the area perhaps?" Draco spoke to the man diligently walking outside the door and toward the road ahead of the motel.

Once Draco reached the girl he didn't need to know the answer to those questions he had asked the man. He knew exactly who the girl was. It was the one and only Hermione Granger. Of all places she could turn up she was here lying on the ground as if she had been raped and then beaten to make she wouldnt remember what happenned. He quickly took off his jacket and layed it across her torn clothing. He didn't want her to be exposed more than she already had been. He then leaned over and gently touch her face where she had been hit. She suddenly awoke then as if she knew who it was that was touching her. Draco took a step back surprised and then looked at her to see if she was ok. She openned her mouth to talk, but it was as if she couldnt find the right words to say. Instead she gave him a look that she needed him to take care of her and not walk away from the situation. They might not have been good friends or even friends for that matter but the look on her face made Draco scoop her up into his arms and carry her back to his room. The man watched as he saw the blonde haired boy retreat to his room carrying the girl. He knew that she was in the right hands.