Draco stood in his room alone, wondering how he'd feel after this day had ended. This was the day that would consolidate his fate in the war permanently. After today there was no turning back.
He turned and stared into his ornately carved, full length mirror, noticing in particular the pallor of his skin. He supposed that it wasn't unusual as he had always been fair but today especially with the flowing white robes and the apprehension due to the task ahead, he thought that he looked almost translucent.
Although white, on the outside he was calm, but internally he was fighting with his emotions. He knew that today he was going to have to be strong and uphold his family honour. He knew that he had to go through with this to protect the ones that he loved.
His mother was all he cared about and he knew that for her, he would do anything, even this. There was no limit to what he would do. He knew it would ultimately be the wrong thing to do but he knew that he would sacrifice himself for her.
The thought of his mother being safe gave him new determination and he schooled his features into a mask, ready for when they came for him. He knew that he had very little time so he didn't let his true feelings show but instead tried to avoid any emotion, sealing his mind off to everybody but himself.
He hated his Aunt Bellatrix, but he had to admit that her Occlumency lessons were coming in very useful. Her method of teaching might have been horrific, but it had left him well-prepared for what the future was about to bring.
A short knock on his bedroom door, brought him out of his thoughts and he took an extra second to check all his mind's fortifications were in place before saying, come in.
His father's head popped around the door, grim faced and impatient.
'Come now. He is waiting for you.'
Biting back a response, Draco gave a stiff nod and swept out of the room his cloak swirling, ironically, in an almost angelic way. He could only wish what to come would be half as pleasant.
'Ahh, Draco, I see you're ready to pledge yourself', came the mocking tone of Draco's soon to be master.
'Of course, my lord. I live to be in your service.'
'Well it's good to hear that, but now you'll have to prove your dedication. Only those who are strong enough to complete the induction can be part of the Death Eaters.'
Draco inclined his head, willing this whole process to be over although he knew it had barely started.
'Come, let's get started. I want to see the boy struggle,' his aunt Bellatrix crooned from the corner.
Draco shivered in disgust. His aunt Bella was everything he despised in a person. Her only good trait was her unwavering loyalty to the Dark Lord.
Before he could stop and think again, the Dark Lord was out of the room, clearly impatient also to see how he would fare.
As Draco followed the Dark Lord down the hallway and into the large gardens that belonged to Malfoy Manor, he tried not to dwell too much on what was to come but just breathed slowly and rhythmically.
When they got to a random point on the lawn the Dark Lord stopped abruptly and it was all Draco could do not to bump into him.
Draco looked around expectantly, searching for some clue as to what he was going to have to do. When he saw nothing but grass all around him, he looked up at the Dark Lord searchingly.
'Now, now, Draco, you seem very keen to start.'
'I want to prove that I'm worthy', Draco replied, inwardly thinking that his statement couldn't be further from the truth.
This was met by a few sniggers from the surrounding crowd of Death Eater's that had materialised from apparently nowhere. Draco looked around startled, thinking that he, the Dark Lord, his father and his aunt were alone.
He tried to look for a familiar face, but in the sea of black, every face was indistinguishable. Looking down at himself he realised that as the only one in white, he was very visible and in a rare uncharacteristic moment felt very self-conscious, knowing that he couldn't mess this up or there would be severe consequences for both himself and his mother.
'Not afraid of a few spectators, are we?'
'Of course not. Merely surprised, I wasn't aware of their arrival.'
'Right then let's get started. We all know why you're here and I think you can guess most of what's expected of you. This is just a usual night for us Death Eaters,' the Dark Lord taunted, ' and therefore we are going to start with you showing us how a mudblood deserves to be treated.'
Then with a quick wave of the Dark Lord's wand a young woman, bound by magic, was revealed. Another wave and she was released.
Instantly, she started screaming and running. Reminding himself it was all for his mother's protection, he detached his emotions and quickly raised his own wand and wordlessly caused the unfortunate witch to fall, slamming down hard on the grass.
This didn't silence her though, if anything it made her scream louder as she tried in vain to escape her imminent torture. Another quick spell and she was dragged back across the grass towards him, her limbs flailing as she tried to resist.
'Wordless magic Draco, trying to impress someone', the Dark Lord sounded amused, 'Very nice but I think we should move onto the more painful spells, don't you?'
Not wanting to reply, Draco spat out a 'Crucio' trying to put all of his hatred at his situation into it as he knew it would make the curse more effective. The witch curled up in a ball, emitting blood-curdling screams, so he knew that he'd been successful.
'That's more like it,' the Dark Lord encouraged, 'but how about a few visible wounds. Breaking someone mentally is good, but with Mudbloods it's always important to leave the body with marks to show all the other Mudbloods and Bloodtraitors what will happen to them.
Again, refusing to reply, Draco cast 'Sectumsempra'. Thinking it was a good one to use, since he remembered the pain it had caused when Harry had used it on him.
'Ahh, one of Snape's I see. Seems like your Head of House has been teaching you well.'
One of the black cloaked figures acknowledged this politely, while the rest of the crowd sniggered. Draco took this moment as an opportunity to look down and noticed that at the bottom his white cloak was no longer white, but was beginning to turn black as committed more and more sins.
'Don't stop then boy!'
Draco hurriedly returned to the task. He levitated the barely conscious, bleeding girl into the air and then quickly swished his wand downwards causing the body to slam into the ground with a couple of sickening crunches. Forcing himself not to be sick he repeated the process a few times, until the girl's limbs were sticking out at odd angles and her breathing was shallow, as if she was barely holding onto life.
'Finish it then, it's all very entertaining and of course for the only true cause, but I believe it's your turn for a bit of fun now Draco.'
Draco gulped as the group of Death Eater's cackled and started nudging each other, making bawdy jokes. If Draco felt sick before, it was nothing compared to how he felt now.
He turned to the poor girl and knew now that killing her would put her out of her misery and spare her what was to happen next. He wished that he could be spared it to, but he knew that he would have to go through with it.
'Avada Kedava', he hissed, tainting his soul eternally as his first victim stopped breathing and was at rest from the pain he caused. Looking down now his cloak was completely grey with dark swirls extended up either sides.
'Go on then Draco, it's time for your fun. We're all adults here and from what I've heard you're not exactly a stranger to the pleasures of the flesh.'
The statement barely registered in his brain. He knew that he had to act soon but his revulsion at the task ahead had left him barely able to put one foot in front of the other.
Forcing all emotions away, he refortified his mind to calm himself and stumbled across to the body. He knew that he didn't exactly look eager but he hoped that the Dark Lord would put it down to embarrassment.
Kneeling in front of the body, he tried attempted to think of something that would at least make his body willing to do this task if his mind was not.
He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and blocked the image of the poor girl's bruised face out of his head. Instead, he thought about his first sexual encounter with Pansy a few years ago. He'd been young, nervous and inexperienced then but very eager to learn.
He recalled the sensations and acute ecstasy that he'd felt that night and thankfully he felt that familiar tightening around his midsection which would allow him to complete his induction.
He unzipped his flies and leaned across the body, ripping the remaining shreds of the unlucky muggleborn's dress off her prone form. Pushing her surprisingly lacy underwear to the side, he swiftly entered her hoping to finish this as soon as possible.
As he pushed in, he heard more cries from the crowd watching him. He quickly detached himself from the surroundings and withdrew into his mind, letting his body subconsciously go through the familiar motions.
He closed his eyes once more and pretended that he was in Hogwarts with some other nameless girl. Well a specific nameless girl that he tried hard not to think about to often as he knew his father would disapprove.
Stop getting off the point, he berated himself, praying that the physical feelings would be enough to make him finish soon.
Just as he thought this, he felt his pleasure begin to mount and without conscious thought his body began to surge faster, as he was no stranger to this kind of physical activity. Stars exploded in front of his eyes and he bit down on the inside of his mouth, not wanting to give the Dark Lord the satisfaction of him losing control. Years of broom closets had taught him to be fairly quiet anyway, so it was without too much difficulty that he silently finished off, pulled out and rezipped his trousers.
The swirls of black on his now charcoal cloak were teasing at his neck and he hoped this was enough complete his initiation but feared it would not be so.
His fears were confirmed when the Dark Lord turned to him and said, 'That's all sufficient so far, but your cloak shows you haven't been completely cleansed of the light, so how about we play with a bit of fire. I think there's a muggle family that have been living on the moors near Hogsmeade that have been there too long. What do you say to that?'
'Anything that rids the Earth of those inferior scum sounds fine to me,' Draco replied, in a way which he hoped would seem eager.
'Alright let's go then.'
All at once the crowd of Death Eater dematerialised, to apparate to the location, leaving only black smoke in their wake. Draco followed, a few curls of smoke behind him, showing how close he was to joining their ranks.
Feeling the tight squeezing sensation take over, he followed in the Death Eaters wake, wishing his cloak would turn black already.
After a not so graceful landing with one foot in a rabbit hole, he was sought out by the Dark Lord.
'Ah, Draco, I've sent a few people around the back to surround the house, so now you are going to come with me and lead the attack.'
The Dark Lord placed an arm around his shoulders, and started walking them towards the door of the house. The house itself was quite old and in need of a few repairs however the overall feeling was quite homely as although it was exposed on the top of a hill, it was evident that there was an open fire place inside and the sound of children laughing could be heard.
Draco was suddenly pushed in front of the Dark Lord and given a short nod to indicate that he should begin.
Starting small he used a quick 'reducto' to blast open the door. Almost instantly the family were alerted as a man's voice could be heard calling from inside, 'What was that? I'll go check it out.'
Draco proceeded up the path towards the door and was just entering the property as the man came round the corner holding a shotgun.
'Don't move or I'll shoot,' the man threatened.
'You fool,' Draco replied, 'as if that hunk of metal is going to save you!'
Draco flicked his wand and the gun exploded, peppering the man with little metal shards. Another motion of his wand and flames came out of the tip. Holding the flames in front of him, he walked the man backwards into the lounge where a woman and two children were huddled in the corner, staring up in fear at a couple of Death Eaters that had came in through the back door.
The woman ran to the man, embracing him before trying to sweep the metal shards and blood of his face. The children tried to do the same but the Dark Lord was too quick and rooted their feet to the spot.
'Now Draco, let's start with the children, shall we?'
The children started wailing in terror and the woman tried to run to them, but with a sweep of the Dark Lord's arm she was thrown against the wall and crumpled to the floor.
Draco took this as a sign to proceed and so set the floor around the kid's feet alight. He knew fire was a favourite of the Death Eater's and thought it would ensure a few more screams, which would please the Dark Lord.
Seeing the children were taken care of, the Dark Lord pointed to the man, who was stood still in the corner of the room, horrified, watching the scene unfold. Draco slashed at the man's legs causing blood to spurt out. The man sank to the floor, like his wife had before him, unable to support himself.
'Your cloak is all black now, so we will leave a few here to finish this off, while the rest of us return to your estate to see you receive the mark.'
Another squeeze and they were all back in the grounds of Malfoy Manor.
'Come here Draco, and give me your arm.'
Draco pushed back the sleeve of his robe and walked, arm out stretched towards the Dark Lord. His nerves returned as he knew the pain of receiving the mark was a test in itself. He would not allow himself to cry out or worse pass out from the pain and so once again withdrew his emotions and tried to block out the external world.
He also tried not to dwell on the fact that this moment in time was the last where he would ever be able to back out and say he was not guilty of the crimes of the Death Eaters. After this he could never claim to be on the side of good. His fate was decided.
He briefly had time to think of his mother and family honour before his world was consumed by pain. There was no sensation in his body other than pain.
His eyes were closed so he couldn't see. He couldn't hear what the Death Eater's around him were shouting and he didn't even notice when his legs buckled and he fell to his knees clutching his arm.
After a seemingly infinite amount of time, he came to his senses. He could feel the dampness of the grass on his knees and he could hear the crowd of Death Eater's jeering. he could also taste the blood in his mouth, where he had bitten down in a pathetic attempt not to cry out.
He felt a rough pair of hands yank him up and a voice hissed in his ear, 'Snap out of it!'
Immediately he refocused his attention and tried to forget about the burning pain in his arm. He blinked a few times and breathed deeply before turning to face his master.
'Draco, it seems you were strong enough to pass my tests. Welcome to the Death Eater's.'
This statement was met with lots of laughter from the other Death Eater's.
'Your father must be proud,' the Dark Lord continued, 'now you may retire but I will call on you tomorrow for I have a task for you.'
Knowing he was dismissed, Draco stumbled out of the circle of Death Eater's and made his way up to his room.
Upon reaching his room Draco flung his offensive black Death Eater robes to the floor and quickly ran into his bathroom where the sickness he had been suppressing all night came back with vigor and he was violently sick.
When he felt like there was nothing left in his stomach, he threw himself across his bed, locking and silencing his door.
Satisfied that he was alone and that no-one would hear him, he let all his hidden emotions come out. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he rocked back and forth to try and stop the sobs. His arm ached and the disgust at what he had done was causing his body to shake uncontrollably.
Eventually he cried himself to a restless sleep full of dark dreams of what was to come.