Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, settings, or any former plots mentioned in the wonderful Harry Potter books.  All I own are any original characters, plots, and settings that I write.  The rest belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.

Author's Note:  This is not a songfic.  This story is inspired by a series of songs by Linkin Park, Evanesce, and System of a Down that, when linked together in this order, form a story.  For each chapter, there will be a different song.  I will also post the lyrics with the chapter so that you, the reader, will understand the correlation between the song and what occurs throughout the story.  This story contains slash and het pairings.  Some of the pairings include Ron/Draco, Severus/Sirius, Harry/Hermione, Ginny/Colin, Fred/Angelina, and George/Katie.  I am also working on writing stories about the rest of the pairs I just listed but as for now, I'm only focusing on two couples at a time, and for those who have not read or particularly care for slash, it is not graphic.

Ch. 1A:  Easier To Run- Inspired by Linkin Park's "Easier to Run" from Meteora

It's easier to run/

Replacing this pain with something numb/

It's so much easier to go/

Than face all this pain here all alone/

Something has been taken/

From deep inside of me/

A secret I've kept locked away/

No one can ever see/

Wounds so deep they never show/

They never go away/

Like moving pictures in my head/

For years and years they've played/

If I could change I would /

Take back the pain I would/

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would/

If I could/

Stand up and take the blame I would/

If I could take all the shame to the grave I

Would/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Within the vast walls of the secluded Malfoy Manor, in the private study of Lucius Malfoy, Draco was receiving a "stern talking to" for his recent and unsavory behavior.

"Draco," began Lucius Malfoy, "why do you continue to disobey me?  It is bad enough that you were not top student for your year, but to be beaten by a fucking Gryffinfor mudblood!"  Lucius was now yelling.  "You've disgraced not only the Malfoy name, but purebloods the world over.  You won't even have the chance to redeem yourself."

            Draco had just completed his 7th, and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"You know that Master will not be very pleased with you."

Draco turned to face the fireplace as his father continued to talk of the greatness of his master.  It took all of Draco's self-restraint not to snigger as his father talked of on.  Despite how powerful Voldemort was he was no master of Draco.  Voldemort aroused no fear within him. His father might kiss Voldemort's ass, but he, Draco Malfoy, would never stoop so low.  In fact, for all he cared, Voldemort could go fuck himself.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Lucius asked impatiently.

Draco just continued to stare into the fireplace on the opposite side of the room, lost in his own thoughts.

            "Well," Lucius prompted his heir.  As Draco lifted his head to look at his father, he realized that his father's anger was palpable and ready to explode.

            "What can I say, the mudblood bitch is smart."  Draco winced as the words escaped his mouth.  Judging from the look on his father's face that had not been the answer his Lucius wanted to hear.  Hell, Draco thought that despite any answer he gave, it would never appease the situation in his father's eyes.

            Draco's piercing silver eyes suddenly widened in fear.  Fear was an emotion that only his father could arouse in the young man.

            Lucius pulled out his wand and muttered the ominous spell.  Draco knew it was coming.  This spell had been performed on him often enough; he knew all the signs.  His father would sigh, almost contentedly, then a sinister and sadistic smile would grace his face, finally, he would whisper the spell that Draco dreaded.

            "Crucio," Lucius muttered in a soft voice.  He watched as his son, his heir, his property began to writhe in pain. 

            "I'm hurting just as much as you are," he yelled over his son's screams, "I don't gain any pleasure by causing you pain."  Lucius laughed at his own joke.  He knew very well that he loved bringing pain to all creatures, especially his son.

            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Narcissa Malfoy sat in the formal living room and looked through a large window, concentrating on the view of the numerous acres of Malfoy land.

            This was the one freedom she allowed herself.  This was the only time she was truly ever at peace with herself.

            -I've never been there for him.

            Narcissa always tried to avoid think of the past and all of her mistakes.  It was just easier to run away from everything, rather than face it.

            -I don't even deserve to be called his mother.  I'm quite sure he doesn't consider me as such.

            Throughout all of the 17 years of Draco's life, she had always turned a blind eye to the abuse Lucius undoubtedly caused her son.  It wasn't because of fear that she didn't stop Lucius, nor was it because she never felt something toward Draco; she just loved Lucius more. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Narcissa sat in the Slytherin common room, reading over her charms essay.  She had always had a knack for charms and took great pride in the fact that she was the top charms student within the fifth year class.

            Suddenly, the portrait door swung open, and through the opening came Lucius Malfoy, seventh year prefect.  He looked smug, haughty, and aristocratic.  Everything, from his sharply pointed features down to the way he walked screamed to everyone who had ever seen hi that he was a pureblood and was extremely proud of it.

            Narcissa stopped to stare at the Slytherin prefect.  He was handsome; there was no doubt about that.  His face was all sharp angles, with high cheekbones and pale skin, but what stood out most were his eyes, piercing silver that held a certain dangerous and wild essence.

            As her gaze lowered, she could imagine what kind of body must have been hiding underneath the layer of robes.  Lucius was keeper and captain of the Slytherin quidditch team.  All of there training obviously paid off, considering that one could tell, even through layers of clothing, that there lurked and almost god-like physic.

            Narcissa knew she was hooked as he looked toward her, obviously feeling eyes upon him.  The air of power that surrounded him was intoxicating.  As looked her in the eye and gave the infamous Malfoy smirk, she knew she now belonged to him, and so did he.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-I don't even know who I am anymore.

            She had once been a person with her own thoughts and feelings, but that all changed when she met Lucius.  Of course she had suffered her fair share of abuse from the man, but Narcissa believed with all of her heart that he loved her as much as she loved him.

            In order to stop feeling the pain that Lucius caused, she replaced her emotion with numbness; an indifference that protected her from pain, but also hindered her from being the mother she should have been.  The only emotion that was allowed to spill through that uncaring cover she wore was the love she felt for her husband.

            Narcissa Malfoy was no longer her own person.  Her husband defined her.  Without Lucius, she was nothing.  No matter how many affairs he had, no matter how many times he had caused her pain, she need him in order to breathe; in order to live.   

            For a time, Narcissa had even gone as far as to convince herself that whatever torture Lucius bestowed upon she and her son was deserved.  She told herself that they needed to be punished for their insolent behavior.

Then she'd heard it.  A piercing, tortured scream broke through her thoughts. 

-That's Draco.

She had known that Draco had experienced the cruciatus curse before, but nothing had prepared her for hearing his actual screams.

-And I've never been there for him.  I never held him.  I never comforted him.  And now, he is a man.

Draco was all grown up.  She had missed 17 years.  She had missed every milestone.  She'd missed his first word, his first crush, his first kiss.

-I don't even know who Draco is.

It was as if she had awakened from a long slumber.  She knew she could never go back and change the past, but she to do something to make up for it all.

Draco sat propped up on his bed looking around his sparse bedroom.  The décor was rather uninspired, even by Malfoy standards.  Everything, of course, was green with dark mahogany wood used for all of the dressers and the large bed in the center of the room.

The Malfoy held his hands up to his face.  They were still trembling from the curse that had been lifted only minutes ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flshback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco continued to scream through his father's little speech.  All he could feel was an all-consuming pain.  Though he had been through this before, he would never be used to the pain it caused, nor did he think he would ever be used to it.

           

"You don't deserve the name Malfoy.  Malfoys are strong, and independent.  They are number one at everything they do.  Do you hear me?"

           

"Yes," Draco somehow managed to choke out through the throbbing pain that encompassed his body.

           

"Who are you Draco?"  Draco could barely think through the pain.

           

"Who are you?" Lucius yelled, kicking Draco in the gut simultaneously.

           

"A Malfoy"

           

"Good boy.  What are you Draco?"

           

"Pure," came Draco's strangled reply.

           

"Who do you serve Draco?"

           

"No One"

           

"What did you say?" Lucius roared.

           

"No One."

           

"I will ask you one more time, and if you don't answer accordingly, I will kill you right here and now.  Who Do You Serve?"  Lucius made sure to stress every syllable.

Draco thought about it, or thought as much about it as he could through all of the torture he was experiencing.  Death seemed almost merciful at the moment.

"Lord Voldemort," Draco replied.

"I thought you'd say that."

Lucius suddenly ended the curse.  Draco could barely move, the residual pain still resonating through his body. 

"Twinkie!" Lucius yelled.  Suddenly a very small, and, obviously, scarred house elf appeared in the room.  "Deposit this disgrace to his room.  I can't stomach to look at him right now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco could not remember how many times he had been beaten and put under foul curses because he was not enough of a Malfoy, because he was not cowardly enough to serve the great "Dark Lord."       

Ever since he had been young enough to understand language, he had been drilled in the area of the dark arts.  When he cried he was hit for being weak, when he wanted comfort he was pushed away.  Anger was all that he was supposed to feel.  Every other emotion, compassion, kindness, empathy, were all for the weak, which no Malfoy was. 

So Draco hid his emotions.  Of course he felt the hurt of being beaten by his father, of course he felt the hurt of never being loved by his mother.  But his emotions were his little secret, locked in a place that no one could find them.  All he let surface was the indifference, the numbness, and the anger.  All Malfoys had a cool and apathetic exterior, and that is what he, Draco Malfoy showed to the world.

Draco had once looked up to his father.  To Draco, he was the embodiment of power and manliness, and Draco aspired to be just like him for most of his life.  He believed that the Malfoys were a race apart, even among purebloods.  He believed that Malfoys held power and bowed down to no one.  Every beating and hex he had received, Draco had once believed he deserved, as long as it helped him become the Malfoy his father was. All of his images of his father changed when he accompanied his father to a death eater meeting.  When Voldemort called Lucius to him, he, Lucius actually bowed down to the ugly ass monster, and if that weren't enough, he actually kissed the hem of his robes as if he were some fucking god.

Draco's anger grew as he remembered what had taken place within Lucius' study what seemed a mere moments before. 

-I can't believe I said I served that bastard Voldemort.

Draco's anger only continued to grow as he remembered what his father had said about being a Malfoy.  In Draco's opinion, he was more a Malfoy than his father ever was and ever would be.

-Malfoys don't serve anyone but themselves.  Malfoy don't bow before ugly ass dark lords like mere servants.  Malfoys are better than that.  Lucius is the real disgrace to the Malfoy name, not me.  I'll be a Hufflepuff before I ever serve that halfblooded motherfucker.  I have to get the fuck out of here before Lucius tries to make me ruin my flawless skin with that dark mark.

As Draco began drafting a plan, he heard a soft knock on his door.

"You house elves leave me the fuck alone," Draco yelled, annoyed at being disturbed. 

"Draco, it's me." Narcissa Malfoy entered his room.

"Hello "mother"," Draco said sarcastically, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I came here to apologize for never being there."

Draco let a slightly surprised expression briefly grace his features.  The surprise as his mother's apology soon turned to indifference.

"Why," Draco started, "you've never loved me.  You've always been a sorry excuse of a mother.  If this is one of those 'I always loved you-can we still have a relationship' speeches, then you should leave for it's far too late for that.  If not, tell me what you want and leave."

"You're right, I never exactly loved you, but you are my son, and though I've never been apart of your life, I want to help you," Narcissa replied dispassionately.

"Help me?"  If it weren't for the fact that he could use this chance confession of his mother to his advantage, he would've thrown her out already.

"Yes, whatever you need of me, I will help you, but only this once."

"Guilt is a very powerful motivator isn't it?"

"Yes, Draco, it is."

"O.K.  Let's cut the small shit.  I need you to help me escape from here.  All I need from you is some money, a safe house, and a plan to distract Lucius, I'll handle the rest."

A/N-This is only the 1st of this 3 part prologue.  I have to fill you in on what is going on with each of the main characters before I actually continue to write more material containing the plot, and believe me this story has a plot.  This time is also a great time to mention that this will contain slash and heterosexual pairings.  I mean, it is the 21st century and everyone swings one way or another, or both.