Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. Nor do I own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
The scenery around him almost fit the situation perfectly. There was something oddly dark about it and the sky looked as if it were undoubtedly threatening a storm. Dark gray clouds twisted and turned curiously in the sky and lifted the man's hair ever so slightly. In order to give himself something to do, the man busied himself with the task of sweeping his hair back behind his ears. It wasn't as if his hair was long, though it did sit only about two inches below his earlobes. He was, as it so seemed, a man of stone, but if that had been true, why did he feel himself crumbling?
He had been given a task.
"You will do what this paper says Draco. The Dark Lord will be waiting. I'm counting on you, failure will not be acceptable." "Yes father."
He gritted his teeth. This should not have been happening. He walked out of Knockturn Alley with a grim face and the vial in his pocket made him feel heavier inside with every step. It wasn't enough to be tortured physically and mentally, but now they had given him a task for something he would never even have dreamed of doing, but he had.
His fist clenched the paper in his left hand. It had been given to him the day before he had gone shopping for new supplies. Before he had bumped into Granger and knew his life was completely worthless. Kill the mudblood.
Those three words; etched clearly in his mind now. He would never be able to forgive himself…
So had gone in the shop, made sure there were no witnesses, and killed the man at the counter in cold blood. He still remembered seeing the man twitch as he had reached in the dead man's pocket and pull out the vial of green liquid.
He remembered stuttering on the Unforgivable Curse and choking on the power that surged through him as the words left his mouth.
"You have to mean it, Draco." He had been told multiple times. Draco closed his eyes as a wave of nausea passed over him. What scared him was that in order to protect his family, he would do it again. And he was afraid he would soon start meaning it.
Hermione walked quickly as she headed to the bookstore. Annie Foltlore's new spells book was out for only a limited time and Hermione had to get it before the store selling it closed. She already knew it would be a long line and- "OOF!" she exclaimed as she smashed into someone and fell. "Sorry I-" Hermione looked up to meet a pair of steely eyes. "Watch where you're going Malfoy!" she said getting up, expecting a snide remark but never got one. He just stood there looking at her as she got up. His eyes were filled with all the muster and toughness she always saw, but today she thought she saw something else. "Malfoy?" she asked.
Draco licked his lips. He had to say something, not stand here staring like she had grown two heads. In the end he decided not to say anything. He just turned on his heel and started to walk away.
"Oy, Malfoy!" he heard her call behind him. He turned to look at her and saw her holding his vial! He quickly came back and snatched it from her. Hermione's eyes widened. "Excuse me? A 'thank you' would be nice!"
He just looked at her. "Don't involve yourself in my affairs, Granger. It's none of your business."
She rolled her eyes. "I didn't ask what it was. I asked for a 'thank you'."
He smirked. "Did you really think-" suddenly he stopped seeing his aunt Bellatrix coming toward them.
"Draco!" she scolded grabbing him by the arm swiftly and glaring at Granger. "What are you doing here talking to this mudblood filth! Come back to the manor with me this instant!"
He hating being seen bossed around, and he also wanted to piss off his aunt. "Thanks, Granger." He said softly for only the three of them to hear and smiled.
Bellatrix twisted his arm. Malfoy grunted before disappearing from Hermione's view.
'What the hell?' she thought to herself getting in the line for the bookshop. She looked at the paper Malfoy had dropped and saw magic writing. She tucked it away and decided to look it up at Hogwarts later.
They all stepped on the train. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, Ginny and the Patail twins piled into a compartment all chatting about their summers away from each other. For the golden trio it was mostly memory talks for they had spent almost half of the summer in the burrow.
It was their last year and as the topic changed to Quidditch, Hermione found herself thinking of Krum. She hadn't heard from him for at least 2 weeks now. It didn't bother her though. He was turning into just a memory. But it would have been nice to hear from him once in awhile, she thought.
A knock at the compartment startled her, since she was the closest to the door. She looked up to see Malfoy. He didn't have on his robes on yet and with his button-up shirt only half-way done, she could glance a peek of his muscular, tanned chest. Slightly blushing, she opened the door and felt everyone around her stood up. "Malfoy." She nodded at him because he seemed to be just looking at her.
He caught himself and looked to meet her eyes. "Have you forgotten that you are Head Girl this year, Granger?" he asked with a smirk. "Because me and the prefects have been waiting in the Head cabin for a while now."
Hermione slapped her forehead in surprise. "Ohmygosh! I completely forgot!" she exclaimed. "I'll be there in a moment," she added wondering why Malfoy hadn't left yet. She turned to her bag so she could get out her clipboard. "Now where is my…"
Malfoy leaned against the compartment door lazily saying, "Take your time, Granger."
Ron narrowed his eyes at him. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Ferret? Hermione will be there when she's good and ready."
Draco didn't respond. Something about Weasley's voice reminded him of the shopper keeper's life he had ended a week ago. He mentally slapped himself; he needed to forget about that man. He was dead now, there was no way that could be undone now.
"Alright, I have everything I need." Hermione said with a sigh. Draco flicked a glance at her and turned around, leading the way to the compartment he had just come from.
All the prefects smiled in relief as the HeadBoy and Girl entered. Hermione immediately started rattling off about everything they had to do. Soon she was talking about being honest and responsible and Draco began to get bored. He tuned out of her speech and focused on how she looked. Despite her seemingly cheerful attitude her face seemed to have lost her spunk. There was tiredness about it and her eyes didn't have their natural spark. Her hair was in a bun with a small butterfly clip—no wait it wasn't a butterfly, it was a snake. And it was moving. And, near the top… a face? A skull…
The Dark Mark.
He felt the blood drain out of his face as if the ground has moved from beneath his feet. "Malfoy? Malfoy!" His eyes darted back to her face. He looked back at her clip and saw it was just a butterfly. Bloody. Hell.
He looked like he'd seen a ghost, was he okay? Hermione pressed her hand to his forehead. He quickly moved away as if she burned him. "Malfoy?" and his eyes kept looking at her hair. "Malfoy!" 'Is it really that messed up?' she thought her hand instinctively going to fix her clip on the back.
"No!" he pushed her hand away from the clip. He was staring at her hair but also holding her hand. And he wasn't letting go.
"D- Draco, are you okay?" That seemed to snap him out of it. He looked at her and took his hand away. The prefects were whispering now, and he seemed to compose himself.
"I-I'll be right back." He stuttered, stepping out of the compartment.
Hermione watched him go in disbelief. 'What is going on?' she thought, going after him. "Malfoy?" he was standing leaning against the wall catching his breath with his eyes closed. He hadn't seemed to have heard her. She stepped closer to him about to tap his shoulder. "Mal-?"
"Granger." He said, his eyes still closed. "I have a headache and I need a break. I said I'll be right back."
"Oh," Hermione responded, feeling a little foolish.
"Go back inside and finishing explaining Ms. Goody-two-shoes, I'm coming soon." He said hoping the name would make her leave him in peace.
Hermione gave him one last concerned look and walked back without another word.
He sank to the ground, knowing she had messed up whatever little meditation he had been trying to achieve. 'It was just a butterfly. Just a butterfly.' He repeated in his head.
But he knew what he had seen. And he had seen it turn into the Dark Mark. He put his head in his hands and sighed. His past, present, and unwanted-future seemed to be catching up to him. 'I don't want this.' He thought, wishing he had the balls to go tell someone. But no, he couldn't.
He stood up with all his Malfoy charisma and conjured a glass of water with his wand. After gulping it down, he made it vanish and went back into the compartment.
A/N: I started writing this story a long time ago and then I deleted it as of recently because I reread it and decided I hated it. I'm rewriting it now. It's going to have mostly the same plot and hopefully better writing.
Sorry if you liked the other one more but I hope you like this one as much.