Welcome to my second Harry Potter fan fiction. I have almost officially abandoned Renegade for good, since it's horribly out of date and since I'm having a lot of trouble piecing the plot together. I mean, I've been trying to write chapter six for almost two years. So I'm taking the general idea from Renegade and making a new story which I think will work out better.

Sorry this bit is so short, but it's the prologue and I promise I'll make up for it with my other chapters.

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Prologue:

Condemned

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"What am I going to do?"

The two figures crouched together in near-darkness seemed as like as night and day; and older man with black, longish hair, sallow skin and a distinctive nose, and a teenage boy with astonishingly pale skin and hair and a very pointed face. It was the boy who had spoken, his voice pitched high from nerves. His face was drawn and white with fear; even in the faint light, the dark-haired man could see him trembling. The man shifted a bit and peered at the boy through the shadows. When he spoke, his voice was lazy and filled with apathy.

"You are going to do exactly as we planned. You have no other options."

"But he'll kill me!" The boy's voice slipped a few pitches higher. "I didn't follow his orders! He's going to kill me, just like he said he would – and Mother, too – and Father –" His voice trailed off into a dry sob.

"Then go and beg his forgiveness," the dark-haired man snapped. It was fairly obvious that he had heard all of this before and was beginning to tire of the exchange.

"The Dark Lord doesn't forgive," the boy whispered.

"That is absolute nonsense, Draco," the man said tartly. "If that were the case, I would have been dead a long time ago." He shifted his weight again in an attempt to find a more comfortable position.

"Well, of course he's welling to forgive you," the boy, Draco, said. In the midst of the argument he seemed to have momentarily forgotten his fear. "You're his golden boy. He trusts you."

The man stared at him through the semidarkness for a few moments, considering this. The boy watched him warily, his grey eyes glinting in the faint light.

Finally the dark-haired man spoke. "Did your mother ever tell you of the visit that she and your aunt Bellatrix paid me last summer?" he asked. Draco shook his head mutely, his hair catching the light and shining dimly. The man continued, "Narcissa was extremely upset over the Dark Lord's plan for you, and she begged me to watch out for you, and to help you if it seemed you would fail in your task."

"Well, that explains why you kept bothering me all year long," Draco said, his voice tight with barely-controlled anger. "I take it you agreed?"

"More than that," the man said, his voice emotionless. "I made the Unbreakable Vow." He caught Draco's look of shock and added curtly, "I did it to help you, to keep you safe."

"And how could you have known that helping me meant I would fail in my assignment?" Draco replied bitterly. "How could you have known that your help would only get me killed? Fine help it was, Professor Snape." He spoke the name as if it were a curse.

A long silence stretched between them. Finally Draco broke the silence. His voice was trembling again. "How can you do it, Professor? How can you just let him kill me? How can you let him kill Mother and Father? Father is barely sane anymore – the Dark Lord won't hesitate to kill him in cold blood –"

"Silence," Snape hissed. "I can do it by remembering where my loyalties lie. You bear the Mark; your first loyalty is to the Lord Voldemort, above all others. Remember that."

Draco grew quiet once more, yet in the darkness the trembling of his body was almost audible. Several long minutes passed without either of them speaking. The only sound was Draco's uneven breathing.

Then Snape spoke. "When I made the Unbreakable Vow," he said, "I promised your mother that I would protect you from harm to the best of my ability." He paused, then said slowly, "The spell has not yet released me from that vow."

Draco stared in shock at Snape's shadowed face, his mouth agape in surprise. "Then you'll help me?" He whispered incredulously. "And Father and Mother too?"

Snape met his gaze for a fraction of a second before looking away. "I made the Vow to protect you," he said expressionlessly. "I may or may not be able to help your mother; I can do nothing for your father. The security which the Ministry has posted on Lucius is too tight for me to be able to reach him alone."

Draco reached forward and grasped the sleeve of Snape's black robes tightly. "Please," he said, his voice uneven. "Tell me what to do." His pleading grey eyes caught the dim light and flashed faintly.

"Get out of England," Snape directed. "Don't tell anyone where you'll be, not even your mother or father. And keep moving; don't stay in any one place for more than a few days. And for Merlin's sake, don't go anywhere that you might stand out."

"What about my parents?" Draco asked, releasing Snape's robes and rising to his feet.

"I'll do what I can for them," Snape said, rising as well and giving Draco a little push. "Now go, while you still have the chance. If I need to reach you I'll send your owl." Draco nodded, his eyes wide, and turned to leave. "Draco," Snape said, and the pale boy turned back. "Godspeed."

Draco nodded once more and stepped into the shadows. Within seconds his body was swallowed by the darkness. Snape waited several moments, listening, and finally heard a faint popping sound that meant that Draco had departed.

"Good luck," Snape muttered cynically under his breath. "You'll need it. And so will I."

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Well? Let me know what you think! More is on the way, I promise!