Chapter One: The Manor

Daryn Striker was his name. He was proud of it. Whenever people asked, he'd tell them his full name. Striker. He liked that. It was his mother's name. Sadly, she was no longer with him. He hadn't known her for long before she was taken from him. She wasn't a bad person, she was a good woman, but her family had mixed with the dark arts. That meant that she was bad in their eyes too. Now Daryn lived with his relatives, the Malfoys.

Narcissa, his mother's sister, had tried to be motherly towards him and though for the most part she was caring person, she did not fill the gaping gap in Daryn's life. Lucius was the furthest from a father figure that one could hope to get. He was cold on the inside and the out. It was most unfortunate that Draco felt he must take after his father. Maybe Daryn and Draco could get along if this wasn't so. But it was.

Daryn's father was a muggle. In Lucius' eyes he was unworthy to be a part of the Malfoy family. And so he was treated like scum within his own home. Daryn was unsure whether he could call it his home really. So he had spent the better part of his life being oppressed by those he called kin. And it was no way to live.

In his looks, he took after his mother; teal eyes and raven hair. He had striking features, as though his face were carved out of stone. He stood tall and muscular, though he hid it well under his thick cloaks. His most prominent feature was by far his strong chin, which gave the impression he was haughty and proud. He could not have been further from this in nature.

As a fifth year student about to return to Hogwarts, Daryn felt apprehensive. He always did at the start of a school year. Another year of being ridiculed by Draco, not being able to make friends because of who he was born to, yes he was apprehensive. It would be okay if maybe he could find company amongst others like himself, but Draco saw that he never knew anyone who'd accept him.

He'd dreamt once of being friends with Harry Potter. However, he was related to people who helped to kill his parents. He was marked to everyone as being a part of a tainted family. His biggest ambition was to prove them all wrong. Prove that he was a good person and bring to light the fact that he did not agree with the Malfoy ways. But it had been four years and he still was seen as one of them. He was unable to break the bond that people saw between him and the Malfoys.

Last summer the Dark Lord had returned and all Hell had broken loose. Nobody believed he was back. The Death Eaters and Order of the Phoenix were the only ones who knew the truth. The Malfoy Manor had become a prison since. Harbouring Death Eaters all the time. Bellatrix Lestrange had made a habit of staying a couple of days every week. Daryn dreaded these visits. Auntie Bella, which he had been forced to call her from a young age, was harsh and cruel. Maybe even more so than Lucius. Bellatrix had a vendetta against Daryn as his mother, Bellatrix's sister Angela, had married a muggle. To her, he was a blood traitor. As was written in scars along his arms.

But life wasn't all bad at the Malfoy Manor. It was a nice place to live, bar all the dark artefacts that Lucius was so fond of. There was a sort of antiquated beauty about the place. Once a week, Daryn would attempt to chart the numerous passages that snaked through the place. He had managed a vague map. However, the tunnels and crevices seemed to morph and change every time he thought he'd cracked it. It was a mysterious dwelling for sure, but Daryn could not wait to get back to the safety and confines of the Hogwarts grounds.

August dwindled away at an agonising pace. But sure enough the night of August 31st arrived, and for once, Daryn did not sleep fitfully, plagued with nightmares, but instead of the bright new year he saw before him.