Disclaimer: I don't own it, yada yada.

A HAUNTED FACE

Chapter 1 – The Way Forward is With a Broken Heart

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can't wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
Call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
Bid my blood to run
(I can't wake up)
Before I come undone
(Save me)
Save me from the nothing I've become

- Evanescence: Bring Me To Life -

0o0o0o0o0o

Her first thought when she woke up, was I'm trapped in a ditch… and I don't want to get out anymore.

How long had it been since Hogwarts? How long had it been since Dumbledore's death? How long had it been since she slept properly? How long had it been since she ate? How long? How long?

She never studied anymore. What was the use? She was too haunted by anxiety and stress.

She got up.

She walked out of her room, eyes unseeing.

All the while thinking.

Thinking was the only thing that she did consistently. But what she thought about, she did not know.

"Mum, Dad!" she called out. No one answered. She wasn't really surprised. They usually go to work earlier than she wakes up. But how come they didn't leave her a note? They always did.

What's going on?

"Mum? Dad?" she called. She ran downstairs, skipping three steps at a time, tripping at the bottom. A sharp pain exploded in her knee, but she didn't care. All she wanted to know was where her parents were. These were dangerous times. Situations like this were to be taken very seriously.

They weren't there.

Where are they?

She ran upstairs again, pushing past half-closed doors, trying to get to her parents' room.

"Mum? Dad?" she whispered. And all she saw was red. On the floor, outside her parents' closed bedroom door. They never closed their door.

What's wrong?

What's wrong?

Oh my God.

0o0o0o0o0o

He woke up, banging his head in the process. Where the hell am I? He couldn't see a bloody damn thing.

He got up from his "bed".

Do you call this a bed!

And then… he remembered everything.

A broken body strewn under the Astronomy tower. Running, running, running.

Why, why, why?

His blood thudded in his ears, drumming and hurting.

He observed his surroundings.

So this was what Draco Malfoy, son of the all powerful Lucius Malfoy now resorted to. Hiding like a fugitive, in a cave in the middle of nowhere.

"It's not nowhere. It's my home."

Snape?

"Professor Snape."

"You have no right to read my thoughts when my defenses are low, Professor." he said angrily, not turning around.

"You're right. But your master has."

God help me.

"He's waiting. And you know how he doesn't like to wait."

"But, my clothes, hair... " he said lamely, trailing off when he saw Snape's look.

"It does not matter. And judging last week, you might not even have long to live."

Then a thought struck him. How did the Dark Lord know where he and Snape where hiding in?

"The Dark Lord knows everything, Draco." Snape, reading his thoughts (again!), said calmly. "And, as I have told you, it is my house you are hiding in."

"It's not just me Snape. It's both of us."

"You are lucky enough I actually tried to cover up for you!" Snape spat harshly. Then, in a quieter tone, he said, "The Dark Lord requests an explanation from you. Good luck. You will need it."

Nodding dumbly, Draco left the room.

I'll be lucky enough to just be Avada-d, judging by his tone.

A/N: Did anyone like it? If you give me reviews, there'll be free brownies! R&R!

serpentine17ice