Chapter One

Her screaming was loud enough to wake the dead. And, I could hear it all the way from my room on the second floor.

It had been less than a week since my Aunt 'so gallantly' captured one of Potter's followers. I hadn't even been allowed to go down and see who the prisoner was, but I can tell from the screams that it's a female.

Or a very feminine man..

I snickered to myself at the thought then felt a twang of guilt. Another persons pain isn't anything to laugh at, even if the mark on my arm claims I feel otherwise.

My Aunt Bellatrix really knows how to torture someone, I'll give her that much. The rest of her qualities are less than desired. I briefly remember her when she first arrived back at the Malfoy Manor, after Voldemort freed her from Azkaban. She had been deranged then, but it's like all sanity she had left has been pulled from her person. She doesn't see reason or logic anymore; she tortures because she finds humor in it. If she was dangerous before, I'd hate to think of what she's considered now.

"Son, come downstairs. The Dark Lord has a favor to ask of you." My father's voice echos around the room and I hear the pain in it. He had been 'reprimanded' for his actions not even a week prior, and his wounds were still healing. He limps when he walks, and he has several broken ribs, but Voldemort would kill him if he didn't resume with his regular Death Eater duties.

Usually I'm not welcome at the meetings, as a further way to show how disgraced the Malfoy family has become. It's to be an example that my mother and I are distrusted by the Dark Lord; it's to be a beacon of how far others can fall out of favor with him.

I stand from my bed and make for the door. I take one last look around the room out of habit. The fireplace in the corner has been extinguished, the bed at the far end has its linens neatly fixed, the dark green and bright silver visible even in a room this darkly lit. My bathroom door to the right of the room is shut and the dark wood of the floor was polished by the house elves only hours earlier. The dark grey walls blink back in an all to familiar manner, and the dark green stencil of the Malfoy family crest that once looked proud, now look back diminished and with a worthless twinkle.

I close the door and head down to the dining room. Voldemort doesn't stay here with us, but he has his meetings here and drops in randomly to further diminish my father's spirit. It works; when the Dark Lord isn't in our home, I don't see my father. He used to hide out in his and my mothers bedroom, but now he stays in the spare room near the kitchens on the first floor. His wounds keep him from going up the stairs. My mother stayed with him for the first few days and assisted the house elves in caring for him, but his constant self loathing made her grow more and more defeated. They barely spoke before, now communication between them is non existent.

I reach the dining room and see the usual suspects sitting around it, minus Snape. Voldemort killed him using Nagini when we were all battling at Hogwarts. It was supposed to be the last stand. Halfway through I started fighting on Potter's side. I would be dead now if I hadn't killed the only witnesses to this. Unfortunately, after Potter came back to life in that big oaf's arms and my family and I left thinking it was over, everyone saw that. My father managed to convince Voldemort that he made my mother and I follow him via the Imperius Curse. He claimed he remained loyal to the Dark Lord, but in that moment panicked and thought only of saving his family. Thankfully for my mother and I, Voldemort believed him. Unfortunately for my father, Voldemort believed him. This is why he was reprimanded for his actions.

I passed the faces of several Death Eaters before finding the open seat intended for me. All of them looked disheveled, and all of them stared at their plates, not daring to look at me. The Dark Lord didn't bother looking up from the Daily Prophet in his hand as I walked in, either.

From what I was told by a few of the Death Eaters that stuck around to fight, Voldemort was angry and dueled with Potter for a while. But, when Nagini was killed by Longbottom, he collapsed to the ground. Auntie Bella disapperated with him out of there and to his main hideaway. He was angry at first, but realized it was for the best. Since then everything's been getting worse for Potter and his band of misfits.

Their main goal is to attack and kill Voldemort and arrest the rest of us. Because of this, the Death Eater count has doubled, by force or by using the Forbidden Curses. They rule the streets of most cities, mainly for two reasons:

Either the people in those cities are afraid to become like the people under mind control, or they don't want to kill their family members. This plus the small battles taking place all over, is leaving Potter's forces dwindling. We haven't heard from them in a while, so I'm suspecting this meeting is about them in some way. Whether it be that we are attacking them first this time, or the less probable, that they've surrendered, I don't know. Quite frankly, I don't care.

"Ah, glad you could join us. I have a job for you Draco."

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This was meant to give more background to the story before diving right on in there.

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