Setting: Seventh year, post battle of Hogwarts. The death of Dumbledore and the battle of Hogwarts were combined during the sixth year.
(August 11, 2010)
"Its only your shadow
Never yourself
Its only your shadow
Nobody else
Its only your shadow
Filling the room
Arriving too late
And leaving too soon"
Shadow- Britney Spears
Pitiful.
That's what described the scene down below.
Draco Malfoy brutally watched a herd of wild animals run after one feeble prey. In this case, Hogwarts was the prey and the returning students were the predators.
Savages, all of them, he thought slyly.
He leaned against the astronomy tower's wall while turning his attention to the sunset before him. He felt the soft breeze hit his face; it was almost calming from all of the chaos he experienced last year.
It was his final year at Hogwarts and he expected it to go quickly. If it weren't for his mother who forced him to attend his last year, he'd be long gone from this treacherous place, the country even. Sixth year at Hogwarts was by far the worst of them all. He had to not only get the Death Eaters into the castle and kill Dumbledore, which lead to failure, but he had to fight in that bloody war. He's surprised that many parents still let their children attend Hogwarts even with Professor Dumbledore dead.
No matter how wise, it was time for him to die, Draco thought.
Professor Snape, on the other hand, did not die. Nagini may have bit Severus Snape, but if it weren't for Draco who casted a spell to eliminate the venom from his body, he would be dead. Draco looked down again and stifled a laugh at this sight while shaking his head.
"Don't you think you should be reuniting with your fellow peers?"
Draco didn't stop gazing out the balcony of the astronomy tower. It was the one place he liked in all of Hogwarts. It was where he could be alone and think his thoughts thoroughly.
"Did you hear me?"
"Of course I heard you, I'm not deaf," Draco said. He turned around and faced Professor Snape.
"Then, why are you still standing here?" Snape demanded while crossing his arms.
"Aren't you supposed to be helping the new students into the Great Hall?" Draco asked and turned his head back to the sunset.
"Be thankful I'm not giving you a year's worth of detentions for that profane mouth of yours. Now go!" Snape ordered.
With a groan, Draco leaned away from the wall and started to exit the astronomy tower. Professor Snape placed his hand on Draco's shoulder to stop him.
"Care to explain this ridiculous attire of yours," Snape said, eyeing his clothing.
Draco looked down at his black buttoned down suit and shrugged his shoulders. A robe no longer justified his presence, even if it embroidered the Slytherin crest. He was a man with power, why blend in when he could stand out.
He didn't need him to know his intentions. Allow people to wonder, it drives them mad.
~o~
"This is excruciating to watch," Pansy huffed beneath her breath. "I could care less if first years are sorted into our house."
Draco, Blaise and Goyle nodded their heads in unison as a first year walk over to the table. Finally, when the sorting was over and Headmistress Professor McGonagall finished her speech, they all continued eating the rest of their dinner.
"Him," Goyle said and pointed his finger at a black haired boy. "He is my first victim to torment this year."
Pansy rolled her eyes and shoved a plate of food towards Goyle.
"Eat this before you shove that kid down your throat," Pansy said. Goyle gave her a glare, but still took her plate of food.
Draco examined his group of friends. How on earth did he manage to become friends with these poor excuses of magical beings? Draco threw his napkin on his plate and got up.
"Where are you going?" Blaise wondered.
"Are you my father?"
"No."
"Then why are you asking?" Draco stormed off from the table leaving his closest friend in unease.
~o~
Hermione Granger sat at the Gryffindor table with Harry by her side.
She could tell that Harry was quite upset when Professor McGonagall was giving the welcome speech rather than Professor Dumbledore. It was going to be a lot of getting used to without Dumbledore around. Hermione softly stroked Harry's back which snapped him from his day dreaming. He gave her a small smile and returned to his eating.
"Merlin, Malfoy is such a creep," Ron said while looking past Hermione's shoulder. Hermione didn't bother turning around because she could care less about what Malfoy was doing. She despised the poor excuse of a man and never wanted to waste her breath on him.
"Why's that?" Harry asked. He too didn't bother turning around to see what Ron was looking at.
"He's just is. He looks evil, and the way he just stormed off like that," Ron said while returning back to his plate of food.
This time Hermione couldn't resist, she turned around and looked at the Slytherin table. Draco wasn't sitting at his usual spot next to Blaise but was walking down the pathway out of the Great Hall. He stood out almost instantly with his blond hair and by his attire. Draco turned around and stared dead at Hermione. She didn't turn around like how he expected but stared back. It felt like they looked at each other for hours but it only lasted a few seconds as Hermione nudged Harry in the shoulder.
"Don't you think you should follow him, Head Boy?" she said with a smile.
Harry turned around to look at Malfoy, but he was already out the door.
"What do you think he is up to?" Harry asked.
"Well, you'll never know if you don't find out," Ginny said.
Harry faced Ginny and held her hand.
"Its okay, what other trouble can he get into?" Harry told Hermione.
Hermione huffed as she looked at the last spot Malfoy stood. She knew he was capable of so much more.
~o~
Words cannot describe how much it infuriated him when that Mudblood looked at him.
How dare she let her filthy eyes look at him after what she had done to his father? Because of her, his father got sentenced to Azkaban for twenty five years.
She will pay, he thought as he walked down the empty corridors, she won't know what hit her.
"Malfoy, where do you think you're going? No one is allowed to be out of the Great Hall during the welcome feast," Hermione said as she stood behind Malfoy.
She gripped her wand from the inside of her robe as he turned around. His cold gray eyes flared and he wrinkled his nose by the sight of her as if she was nothing more than a piece of vermin. He took a couple of steps towards her and overall he looked dark and evil. Once he was a couple of feet in front of her, she couldn't help but feel small by his height.
Back at the table it seemed like a good idea to go follow Malfoy and see what he was up to, but after following him and seeing that he was just doing nothing, Hermione decided that she should confront him. But when he stopped and stood in front of her she couldn't stop the tiny feeling of fear that crawled up her spine.
"Then, why are you following me?" Draco sneered.
Hermione swallowed hard as she tried to think of a good remark, but it didn't come.
"Don't you have anything better to do than ruin my life?" Draco said darkly as he leaned down to her.
Hermione looked at his eyes, since they were so close to hers, and she could see her reflection in his pupils. He looked lifeless as she looked at the rest of his face. She wouldn't be surprised if all of the happiness was drained out of him this past summer.
"I didn't ruin your life, Malfoy. You did that simply on your own," Hermione said sternly, surprised how strong her voice sounded when she was all shaky in the inside.
Hermione saw his face tense up as she said those words. She immediately wanted to take them back. She didn't know how powerful Draco gotten and she didn't want to find out at this very moment. She heard rumors in the train ride over here that Draco Malfoy had learned dark spells from Voldemort himself and that many people now tried to stay out of his way not wanting to get him upset.
Hermione felt the tip of his wand touch her chest.
"You wouldn't dare Malfoy, not on school grounds," Hermione choked out.
Draco smirked at this fragile witch before him. Oh, how he truly wanted to wipe this filthy Mudblood off this earth right now.
"Honestly, Granger, you don't know what I would or wouldn't do."
It was now that Hermione pointed her wand at Draco's chest.
"You think your little spells could hurt me?" Draco nearly laughed as she dug her wand further into his chest.
"No Malfoy, I know," she simply stated.
"Crucio!" Draco yelled at Hermione.
"Stupefy!" Hermione managed to yell back.
Hermione fell on the floor as she clutched her body in pain. Memories flashed before her at the time when she was at the Malfoy Manor while Bellatrix tortured her. She couldn't believe that it was now Draco Malfoy who was doing this to her.
Hermione glanced up at Malfoy, expecting him to be out unconscious on the floor from her spell, but amazingly her wishes were dismayed. He stood next to her, glaring down at her with a menacing smirk plastered on his face. He wasn't affected at all.
She squeezed her eyes as the pain continued. There was no reason for her to ask him how he was unmarked, inside she already knew. Who else had a strong desire to become a death eater? Who else was studious enough to learn dark magic that no wizard would even dare lay their eyes on? Who else was keen enough to cast an unforgivable curse at his own peer? Draco Malfoy was truly unbreakable.
"Didn't you hear what people were saying about me, Granger?" Draco leaned down to one of his knees and looked at Hermione as tears filled her eyes from the pain she was experiencing. "I know magic that no students, or some professors, know about. Next time watch what you say or else I'll make it worse than how it is now."
Draco got up on his feet and walked away, leaving Hermione groaning on the floor in pain.
Hermione sat up on the floor and whipped away her tears as her pain finally stopped, and it only did when she saw the last glimpse of his shadow from the fired lanterns slowly disappear.
Author's Note: (Very Important) Most authors wouldn't say this on their very first chapter, but I believe it's fair for the readers to know. I am not a professional writer so I do make mistakes, especially grammatical ones. I do have a habit of switching present tense to past tense in a single paragraph and it annoys me just as much as it annoys you. So please, if you point it out, be nice about it. I am trying to fix that stupid habit. :)