Labyrinth of Life
Chapter 1: What Life Is This?
By coeurnoir
A/N: hope you guys enjoy this chapter, this is my first story and i am open to all constructive criticism so that i can decide where to go with the story. all ideas are welcome and will be taken into consideration.
It was early in the morning, the view outside his window was still grey and red streaked the horizon. It would be a warm day. He rolled over to see what was waking him up. It was his father's personal house elf, Mira. She looked slightly scared, as did all the house elves when they confronted their master, Lucius Malfoy.
"I'm sorry to wake you young Master but your father would like to speak with you in his study." Draco groaned. "Thankyou Mira. I shall be there as soon as I have bathed and dressed."
Draco rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. The house elves had poured him a bath and set out clothes appropriate for a meeting with his father.
Draco hurried along the dark corridors to his fathers study. He didn't understand why his father kept the manor so dark with heavy curtains, it made the place very uninviting, but it wasn't like he was going to say anything to his father about it. No one gave suggestions to Lucius Malfoy, those who were alive anyway…
After knocking on the heavy oak door and being commanded to enter, Draco pushed the door open and fixed his face into a neutral expression, it didn't do to show how he thought in front of his father.
Malfoy stood before his father the room was dark with bookshelves lining the walls. Lucius sat behind his great oak desk and smiled at his son. That wasn't a good sign. That was never a good sign.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Draco prepared himself; he had no idea what this was about.
"Ah yes, Draco, I came to discuss your coming of age next week. As you are turning seventeen, I would like you to join the Dark Lord's cause. Your initiation ceremony is next week the day after your birthday. I suggest you spend the better part of this week preparing. You are also to get your apparating licence that day, all members of the Death Eaters must be able to apparate to our Master's side within seconds of his call."
Lucius looked up at his son with pale grey eyes identical to those of his son, "any questions?"
Malfoy shifted uncomfortably. He didn't want to be a Death Eater. He didn't want to be like his father whom he had realised was a cruel and ruthless bastard. His mother Narcissa has helped him to realise that. She had told him when he had started to become like his father. Narcissa sought refuge in her son whenever her husband restricted her more and more, she wasn't even allowed to have friends as she might gossip to them about her husbands going ons. They became like prisoners in their own home.
He loved it when he went to school, he had freedom at Hogwarts, despite having to put up with dunderheads sucking up Dumbledore's arse. He knew that soon he was going to come to love Hogwarts. Now he knew he was going to regret his decision no matter which direction he chose.
"Sir, what if it is not my wish to join the Death Eaters?" As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them. He wished he could snatch them out of the air and stuff them back in his mouth. His fathers jaw twitched. It was the only way anyone could ever tell that he was angry.
"Since when was it your choice as to what you choose to do with your life when you live under my roof? You will do as you're told and nothing else"
Malfoy shook his head. Now that he started there was no turning back. "I don't want to, it's my choice!" all Draco heard was a snarled spell coming from hi father and then Draco blacked out. He was in a part of the study that was usually concealed by a false bookshelf. Often he had seen his mother here, tied with her arms above her head just as his was now. Face against the pole. He heard his father and looked to see what he was doing and what he saw he didn't like. His father was going to the shelf behind his desk. That was never a good sign. He slid a box out of the shelf and drew a long thin whip out.
From the next half hour he didn't remember a great amount. It was all a blur of pain. The lash of the whip falling like fire on his back, the blood that dripped out slipping down the small of his back and soaking into his black pants. Draco had suffered this fate before. He had failed a subject at Hogwarts last year because of Potty and Weasel and their insufferable meddling; he had found himself here.
But he refused to make a sound. Even when the salt of his sweat ran into the cuts he didn't utter a sound. It went on until his father was tired and got bored and left him alone, but not until he had told him that he was having guests over for dinner and he was expected to be in attendance.
Draco woke later in his chambers; someone was washing his back with a cloth and cold water. It gave a lot of relief, yet occasionally the cloth would snag and it would hurt. Draco took in a deep breath and winced. "I told him no, mother." The hands on his back paused briefly, only to keep going. "I know you did, Honey. Why did you do that?" He tried to turn his head and look at her but thought the better of it once he realised how much it hurt. "Do you think I was stupid?"
Narcissa gave a hollow laugh. "Who can blame you? Although I don't know anyone that's disagreed with him and lived since I married him. He must believe that there's some hope for you yet." His back was now clean so Narcissa put a mild healing charm on his back. Not healing the wounds completely lest her husband find out.
"You have to leave. He won't try to find you if you stay away long enough. Go stay in the muggle world for a while. I don't want to see you getting forced into that world of slavery. You deserve better than that. I have managed to organise a bank account for you in my maiden name at Gringotts that you could live off comfortably for a couple of years, plus finish your schooling. I suggest you leave tonight. After tea. Start packing now and take your broom. Hogwarts starts again in two weeks, if you stay at the Leaky Cauldron until then, or actually don't tell me. Just be in the least likely spot that anyone would look for you."
His mother stood gracefully from her spot next to him on his bed and started walking towards the door, just before she left she paused and added thoughtfully "Wait till after dinner though so you have all night to get away," and with that she left. Leaving Draco shell shocked, he had never known his mother to be in the least bit defiant.
He struggled to his feet, attempting to not pull the torn skin on his back and started shoving things into his Hogwarts trunk. What else was he to do?
Once he had finished packing he realised that if he didn't start getting ready for tea his father was going to rip into him. Father had said that they were having guests, but as usual he didn't say who these guests were going to be…
So Draco simply eased on his dinner jacket, making sure that it didn't pull too tight on his back, and took a glimpse of himself in the mirror.
His suit was a clean black neatly tailored to his trim figure. He wore an emerald shirt and a black tie. His hair was loosely tied back, having let it grow past his shoulders. His father was particular about the fact that Draco never wore it loose in public. After he left he would probably cut it though, it was a nuisance.
At six on the dot he arrived in the Reception room of the manor to meet the guests. His stomach plummeted when he saw who it was.
It was the Parkinson's. There was Pansy looking like a slut in a low cut gown that hugged her rounded figure far too much and the bright red lipstick looked like she had dressed up for a night on the town rather than a respectable dinner.
Typically he was expected to sit next to Pansy as his parents and hers chatted. Pansy kept trying to draw Draco into conversation, but typically it always centred around her so Draco got bored very fast. As Pansy's talking kept going, Draco thought about whether or not he had packed all the things that he needed to survive on his own.
Finally dinner finished and they retired to the drawing room for drinks, besides, Lucius said that he had a rather important announcement to make and needed him there to make it. His father stood up with his glass of whiskey in his hand and addressed the small party.
" Thankyou very much Mr and Mrs Parkinson for joining my family this evening, and a further thanks for bringing your beautiful daughter with you." At this remark Pansy blushed and fluttered her eyelids, not a good look. " Myself and Mr Parkinson have decided that it is in our family's best interests for the future if Pansy and Draco get married."
There was a shocked pause as their wives and children absorbed this news. Then an excited squeal as Pansy grabbed Draco in a rib crushing hug that sent his back on fire.
"Oh Drakey! Isn't this wonderful?" Draco could barely breathe through the pain.
"Fantastic!" he managed to gasp. He had to get out of here tonight. If he was stuck getting married to that twit he would kill himself.
As soon as he was free he shrunk his trunk till it fit into his backpack and jumped on his nimbus and was out of the window before you could say quidditch.
A little over an hour later he arrived at the Leaky Cauldron looking a little dishevelled from the weather. Five minutes later he was placed in a warm room by Tom and had a warm mug of hot chocolate in his hands. He felt in no way at ease though. He knew that in the morning his father would be looking for him.
- - - -
The room looked like what any of your average teenagers would have in their room. There were clothes everywhere, there were posters of bands everywhere and schoolbooks piled on the desk. It didn't take much to realise that it was different though. The pictures moved, the bands were unheard of in mainstream music, and the textbooks weren't exactly Standard English Schoolbooks featuring titles such as An Essential Study Guide To Potions. Curled up in one corner of the room on the bed was a seventeen-year-old girl with bushy brown hair and hazel eyes. She was crying, the tears making tracks down her pale skin.
Hermione was reading a book and trying to shut out the noises from outside her door. Her parents were fighting again down in their room. Apparently her Dad had gone out and gotten drunk with a couple of mates last night and he'd copped a drink driving ticket on the way home.
This wasn't an odd occurrence. Dad's drinking was beginning to become a nuisance and infringe on not just family life. In the past month alone he'd had to call in sick to several shifts at the clinic because he was too hung over to complete his appointments for the day. He'd hit her Mum the other day for yelling at him for coming home drunk for the third time in a week.
Her Mum had stopped talking to him except to yell at him, both of them were too depressed to talk to Hermione. She just snuck downstairs every now and then to eat, which was even then rare, or go out but other than that they ignored her. Her father had told her to go away and "do her nerdy thing" the other day when she had tried to sit and watch the television with him.
If her friends from school had seen her they would have cried out in shock. She had drastically lost weight and there were permanently bags under her eyes.
Ever since her little brother died things had just gone downhill. Mum and dad loved Connor so much. He was their golden boy. He had only been in his second year of high school, he wasn't a weird magical person and was captain of the football team (A/N: that means soccer to all non football fans) and got grades just as good as Hermione. It wasn't her fault though that he'd had an accident at the river. He and his mates thought that it would be a fantastic idea to go fishing not long after a storm and the river was much higher and stronger than usual. Connor had caught an impressive fish; he was just getting it in when the bank crumbled. They didn't find his body till the next day. It had gotten pinned to underwater debris.
Her parents had been miserable since and hadn't even touched his room; it was exactly how he had left it when he had left that morning.
That day was six weeks ago, in two weeks it was time for her to return to school, she wanted to go but at the same time she was dreading it.
She had become miserable. The boys had barely talked to her all summer since the funeral. They weren't sure what to say to her and they kept tiptoeing around her. This just made her feel worse. Harry was too busy with Ginny and trying to prove to Ron that he didn't need to kill him because he was going out with his sister. He needn't have bothered because Ron spent most of his time with his new girlfriend Sarah from Hufflepuff who was rather impressed with Ron since he had become the Quidditch team Keeper.
Hermione knew that she couldn't talk to the boys about it anyway. They wouldn't understand. She looked at the wizards photo she kept of the three of them on her bedside and knew that part of her life had just locked itself away and lost the key.
Her parents didn't even want her to go back. They had told her that they were sick of telling their friends that she went to some fancy school in the north of England, sick of making up lies about what her favourite subjects were and having weird things left about the house. Besides, why couldn't she come home? They needed her around the home after her brother died. They didn't get it. She needed to be away. Hermione had loved her little brother to death, they were really close writing at least once a week. She couldn't handle everyone leaning on her.
Listening once more to the sounds of screaming and thrown objects from down the hall Hermione made up her mind. She got dressed into suitable clothes, she'd been living in her pyjamas lately. Black hipster jeans, a black hoodie and she started packing her trunk and gathering up her personal items. She couldn't handle another moment of life inside this house.
After she had shrunk her trunk to the size of a matchbox and shoved it in her pocket, Hermione climbed out of the window and apparated to the leaky cauldron. She forced her face into a semblance of a happy expression and walked into the bar.
Tom looked up from cleaning glasses at the bar and gave a yellow-toothed grin. Tom loved seeing Hermione and her friends. "Here to stay are we Miss Granger?"
"That would be lovely Tom. I'll get a hot chocolate for when I'm up there too if you wouldn't mind, it's rather cool outside tonight for some reason."
Once up in her room, Hermione started unpacking. She'd saved up money over the holidays from a summer job at the local pet store. Hermione had turned seventeen just before the holidays and her boss had proclaimed that she had never had a cleaner store and gave her a large bonus at the end of her time there. Since Hermione hadn't spent a pound of that money (she hadn't gone out,) she found that she had plenty to live off and to buy her textbooks with. Snuggling up in her blankets, tears ran down her cheeks as she thought about how her life had changed. The boys ignored her, her parents were on the brink of divorce and now she had run away and was all alone, again.
So she spent her days in Diagon Alley, perusing the bookstores and purchasing what she needed for the year ahead. Hermione still felt lonely and depressed, but since she was in a bit more of a positive atmosphere her mood had lightened a little. After she had been there a couple of days, she was sitting at Fortescue's ice cream parlour enjoying the sun and a tall glass of chilled lemon, lime and bitters when she saw the last person in the world that she wanted to see.
Draco Malfoy.
A/N: As i said before, hope you enjoyed. review please to help me along.
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is the author of Harry Potter, the story here however is mine.