A Pet and Slave is All I'm Good For
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Harry Potter, unless I created it myself. (NOT LIKELY)
I'm so so so sorry for my late, tardiness of this chapter. I lost interest so I had to re-read my other story to get back on track. Which first off, when I read it I was bewildered that any of you liked it. It was horrible!
Thank you for reviewing. It' made me so happy. Special thanks to Kurowolf I also realized my mistake after your review.
And here is your long long awaited chapter. Hopefully it's up to your high standards.
Chapter 2
Far away from Voldemort's castle, a small rebel group sat around an even smaller fire, roasting a rabbit and chicken they had found in the woods. In this group there were twins, who were normally the happiest of the group, another was the red head that always was near the bushy- haired brunette, a shaggy black haired man never unaccompanied by a thin solemn man who had seemed more than his years, a plumb young man who mostly kept to himself, a small number of followers, and a young man whose face was badly scared.
This scarred young man was one of the reasons that the group had to move so often. The Death Eater's were constantly on their trail and if they wanted to stay alive they had to move every few days. They price on his head was so high that even if they did go into town, he would have to stay in the shadows of the woods in fear someone might recognize him from the posters. Also his scarred face makes him stand out of the average, ordinary crowd.
The one and only other reason they were on the run constantly was because they're the friends of the new lord's pet. If they were alive the Lord's pet would still have hope and never fully summit to Voldemort.
"Draco, can you help me with the firewood?" Hermione asked. She knew that the past few days there had been tensions rising exponentially within the small rebel group and she wanted to get Draco clued in. She just knew all the tension was focused in on the only outsider here, Draco. So she figured if she swept him away for an hour or so the tension would lessen. Yeah right. But it's worth a try.
Draco looked up from his wood carving he had been working on for the past week. He pocketed the carving and stood giving Hermione a nod and a small smile that scrunched his scarred face. His face had healed nicely over the months and hadn't had any infections, but that hadn't stopped his face from making an X scar on his once perfect face.
Draco walked next to Hermione as they got a safe distance away from the group. Hermione started picking up some sticks before turning to speak with the Ex-Death Eater. "Draco," Hermione didn't know how to say tell him, "Don't be surprised of there is a blow up form someone in the group." (or All)
Draco nodded, understanding. "I've actually been waiting from them to." He shrugged.
Hermione paused from picking up a stick. She turned quickly, "What?" She asked in disbelief. How could he know?
"Granger, I'm not stupid. I was the second in my class…" Hermione thought she heard after you, mu-. She stopped listening to it. "Anyway, I know tension. It was a common occurrence at home and in the Dark Lord's presence." Draco leaned against a tree. "Weasley's been quiet edgy lately. I've been betting on when he'll pop a blood vessel." He sighed before pushing off the tree to continue the search. As he bent over to retrieve the stick he said tiredly, "So…just don't worry about it. I've been in worse situations." They didn't speak for the rest of the time.
Hermione looked at his scarred face with a slight hint of pity before continuing to collect wood. She thought back over the months about how she and Draco had become close and so had the twins. That was great for him, but what had really bothered her was that they all opened up their hearts to him and he just cracked his a little. She knew there were things he wasn't telling them and figured it was none of her business, but recently there had been some things she had considered suspicious.
She realized recently Draco had been off on his own constantly and he had been in lots of different moods when he came back from his 'ventures.' She thought about confronting him about his moods, but decided it was best to wait with reinforcement- the twins. They could torture him with their test products. Yes, the twins still were making products but with not so much magic to bring any unwanted visitors.
Once Hermione and Draco finished collecting firewood and began to head back. When they were getting closer to camp Hermione suddenly asked, "Um, Draco just out of curiosity when did you learn to carve wood?"
Draco stopped and looked at her oddly. "I didn't. I started as I waited for time to pass."
"Oh." Hermione was a bit disappointed with her friends answer. "Well, anyway you are really talented."
Draco started walking again as he gave her a sideways glance. "Thanks?"
"Your welcome. And you really are good. What are you making anyway?"
"It's-It's a dog." Draco looked away as if ashamed.
They continued their way towards camp and once they reached it they set the wood down. As they were parting ways Hermione gripped Draco's arm and pulled him close to her. She whispered, "Be ready for anything-and Draco, be careful."
She let go of his arm and he rolled his eyes before answering, "Yeah, okay. I told you I can handle this." Then they parted ways. Draco back to his dog carving on the edge of camp and Hermione to the twins who seemed impatient for some news.
Surprisingly nothing happened until the week after.
"We should have gotten rid of him in the beginning, 'Mione. He's been nothing but trouble for everyone. And that was because you let come with us." Ron argued none to quietly. There was a round of "yeahs," agreeing with Ron.
Draco was awoken from his dream of Harry, very pissed. He heard the racquet and was going to break in, but decided he would be coherent before he barged into the conversation he assumed was about him
"But Ron you don't get it. He had no where else--"
"I don't care what was wrong with him and you are getting off topic. So you will listen to us. All of us agree-he's got to go. Him being with us we all run the risk of getting hunted and caught and none of us want that."
Fred and George stepped in front of Hermione as if protecting her. "Ron," they said, "Pull yourself together and think about his rationally. If Draco were to leave and get caught around here we are all sure about getting caught as well."
Ron and the rest of the group wouldn't budge. "We would be long gone from here once he is found. We're going to tie him up near the edge of town and someone will find him and our risk problem is solved." He said as if it was the smartest plan in the world.
By this time Sirius and Remus had woken as well and started in the argument. Of course on Hermione and the Twins side. Sirius didn't seem to support Draco as much as the other four were, but he wouldn't go against his best friend.
When it seemed a brawl was going to break out Draco got up and swaggered over to the extremely angry rebel group. "Would anyone care to tell me what this argument is about?" Of course he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from someone else.
Weasley was the first to recover from the shock of seeing the heart of the argument awake. "It's about you, you asshole. All this trouble is revolved around you. We have to move every few days because the risk of getting caught by those Death Eater's you used to call partners. Also we have to hide you because if someone saw you they would know who you are and turn us all in. Then you know what would happen? We would be killed and wouldn't be able to finish the task Harry gave us. And I would have a problem if that were the case."
Draco just stood there listening to everything Ron said and his smirk grew wider with each thing he said. Ron got so frustrated that he grabbed Draco's shirt and pulled him close and said, "What are you smirking at?"
Suddenly Ron was pulled off from Draco and he saw that the Twins were to thank. Draco brushed himself off of invisible dust then looked down before glancing up directly at Ron. "You," and he looked at the rest of the rebel's against him, "and you guys--are all idiots." Not knowing what to do about Draco the rebel's just stood there taking the abuse.
The Twins let go of Weasley when they were sure their brother wouldn't attack Draco again. Draco then walked over to Hermione and the other's on his side. Then he spoke again with more confidence. "You are all idiots because of the fact that we all are rebel's to the Dark Lord's cause. We would be hunted whether or not I was here. And all of you forgot to mention that not only do I have a warrant on my head, but also these guys," Waving a hand around by Ron, Hermione, the Twins, Sirius and Remus, and the quiet Neville who hadn't said a word for weeks. "only because they know Harry Potter."
"So even if I wasn't here you all would still be hunted because of the fact that the Death Eater's and the Dark Lord know that there is one rebel group with the friends of Harry Potter and he will want to capture and kill them as soon as possible."
Ron's conflicted rebels suddenly looked at all of them in a different light. It was obvious that they had betrayed Ron's argument and were all for themselves. Then one of the older burlier men took two steps back from Hermione's group. The rest of the rebels followed suit. They talked in shushed voices for a few minutes before standing face to face with Hermione's group. Though the group stepped back the burly man took a step forward as if the new leader of the group.
"We believe it is time we split and go our separate ways. We think it would be best for all of us if we distance ourselves from you so you can go on your merry way and we aren't hunted." He nodded toward Hermione's group and abruptly turned leaving the camp site. The other rebels on his side started to follow as well.
"Wait!" Hermione and Remus turned their heads towards the voice next to them. Neville pushed past them stood in clear view for the other rebels. Then he said softer, "We have to stay together. We need everyone we can get if we want to save Harry. He's one of the reason's we haven't given up. Then if-no, when we save him and the Dark- I mean Voldemort is vanquished we can live our lives freely. That's why we're still together, still fighting isn't it?"
The burly man turned around and was listening intently to Neville. He walked right up in front of Neville and asked, "Yeah, we are still fighting and we're still together but what really is in it for us? We don't know the Harry Potter personally and well, I see a no win situation for us. It's been six months already and we haven't seen head nor tail of him. Also, you guys are hiding something from us and if we plan on staying we need to know what that is."
Neville stood up straighter with more confidence and ignoring the last question he said, "Harry is the reason we lived without fear for 13 years and after that he fought with him and still won. I believe in Harry and believe that he can beat Voldemort with our help. And if we all believe in Harry then- we still have that fight to live."
Draco then stepped in to help Neville though, he thought, he'd never see the day. "What I think Longbottom is trying to say is that we need everyone's help find the Dark Lord's soul fragments if we have any hope of living free. I know most of you don't trust me at all, but I have lived the Dark Arts influence most of my life so I do believe I know what I'm talking about. So if I'm correct, I believe I answered your question. Also, I can provide more of an answer if you all chose to stay.
Draco paused for a brief second before continuing his speech. "But you must realise that most of our mission, if you wish to call it that, is to get Harry out of the Dark Lord's clutches and-" Into my arms where I can keep him safe and never have to worry about the Dark Lord again. "--where Harry can then defeat the bastard." The burly man seemed to consider what both of them said before heading to the group and discussing it with them.
Draco glanced over to Neville and as if realization struck him he made a disgusted face and stepped back towards Hermione. He sat on the ground pulling out his craving and transfigured a knife and began carving away. He was just placing the finishing touches on the dog, which looked like a Belgian Sheepdog for those who knew dogs. All the while he muttered, "This is such a ridiculous argument. I mean of course I'm staying, I could care less about…"
The man came back and Hemione's group walked over to him to hear his answer. "We thought this over and we decided that we will give it a try but if we feel it's not working we are leaving. Do we have an understanding?"
"Yes!" Hermione said before anyone could protest. That's when everyone went back to their activities for the day. Through the day it seemed that the argument had never occurred. The tension seemed to be completely gone and the day was going so peacefully. But of course the peaceful day couldn't last forever.
The event happened after dinner around 6ish. One of the men from the group had been drinking from his stored up flask all afternoon and was beginning to get a little tipsy. He slowly got up swaggering over to Draco and even closer to Hermione. He tried to stay as erect as possible as he took one more swallow before placing the cap back on.
Draco placed his carving in his robes and growled, "What do you want?" Draco had never taken to drunks because of the way they acted around the castle or the way they acted to Harry. The Death Eaters were even worse than normal on Harry when he had been in Draco's eyesight. He had wanted to curse them every time.
"Well, are you going to say anything? If not get the hell out of my way. I was busy." Hermione tried to calm Draco down, but he would have none of it. This man had invaded and ruined his daydream of Harry. Recently Draco had come to a realization that there must be something wrong with him if he constantly thought of the young man. But he would never admit it out loud and in this company that he had actually fallen for the other scarred man.
The drunken man swayed violently but righted himself just before he fell. He slurred out, "Why do we have to res-que P-Potter? It's b-been, wh- like six months?" He placed an arm around a disgruntled Draco and a nervous Hermione. "H-He's got to be a vegetable b-by now. So why bother w-ith him any-m-more? There'sss no 'ope for him." He let go of the two and started to walk away with a goofy grin on his face, but he was quickly on the ground.
Ron, who had been close enough, heard what had been said and jumped on his back while pulling the mans arms back. Draco had also lunged at the man and followed with punching him and kicking him. He had completely forgotten about his wand and his rich mannerism and continued whaling on the drunk. "What did you say, you drunken bastard? 'Why bother?' Would you want to be him, uh! Do you even realize what Harry's going through? He's been raped and humiliated in everyway known to man. And as far as I know he hasn't broken down yet! Not many people can be with the Dark Lord that long and be able to say that."
The man was nearly a bloody pulp when Remus ripped Draco away from the man and Sirius dragged Ron away. Draco was still yelling, "I would gladly have you trade places with Harry. You deserve what Harry's going through, not him," there was a choked pause followed by a whisper only Remus could hear, "never him." Remus placed a silencing charm on Draco so they wouldn't be discovered prematurely.
"Draco calm down." Draco wasn't listening and continued to struggle, having angry, tearing eyes only for the drunken man.
Ron also struggled with Sirius, but he was more calm when he spoke. "Simon. Your out. You hear me? Tied to a tree waiting to be captured. Do you understand? No one talks about Harry that way. No one." Ron stopped struggling and Sirius didn't consider him dangerous so he released him. Ron stormed away from the camp with Hermione following closely behind him.
Draco, on the other hand, broke free and gave the drunk one more swift kick in the ribs efficiently knocking him out. Lastly, he spit on the man before Draco was hauled away by the Twins to the far end of the campground.
The rest huddled around the man carefully tending to his wounds.
As the evening wore on Hermione, Ron, Remus and Sirius, the Twins, and Neville were surrounding Draco at the far end of the campsite. Many of the other campers wanted to get into the action, but a very clipped comment from Hermione and Draco almost sent them packing
Draco glared stubbornly at Hermione. She was the one who called this ridiculous meeting. He had at least calmed down enough to hear her…and the rest of them out. But if they were going to appose him there would be hell. "What are we doing here? Am I on trial because I beat that guy bloody because let me tell you he had it coming to him."
"No Draco it's not because of that. But when you were fighting-" Hermione began.
"You mean whaling-"
"No, she means beating the bloody pulp out of-"
"Would you two be quiet! I'm trying to have a serious conversation with him and all your doing is trying to make him laugh. He needs to answer our questions. So shhh." Hermione bit back viciously. The twins quieted down, but Sirius and Ron were having a difficult time holding back their laughs. She smacked both of them before looking Draco in the face.
She cleared her throat. "As I was saying all of us have to have a serious conversation topic brought up to you. It's about Harry."
"Why is it always about Harry?" Draco muttered.
"It's because of your obvious feelings for him."
"And because you scream his name when you sleep."
"And also because everything out of your mouth is about Harry." Chimed in a new voice. The twins were seen laughing with Sirius, their new witty comeback person.
Draco launched himself at them, keen on murdering them where they stood. It didn't matter if he had made friends with the twins or not they were slandering Harry's good name. Remus and Ron pulled him down before he could do any permanent damage to them.
"Do I have to say this one more time? Be quiet. Otherwise you will be under mine and Draco's wrath. Do we have an understanding?" Hermione whispered dangerously. Fred, George, and Sirius huddled together, terrified. Satisfied, Hermione once again turned back to Draco.
"Down to the point before I'm interrupted again. Draco, how did you know so much about what's happening to Harry? And I want an honest answer."
Draco, who was still smirking at the fact that if they said anything else he would be able to beat them down, suddenly frowned. Had I heard her correctly? I didn't say anything that would give my private matters away, did I?
"Don't try and get out of it. I miss Harry just as much as you do. We all miss him and if you tell us, we can help. It seems they we're lacking in the help area recently." Hermione told Draco.
He looked helplessly at the Twins who were just as eager for the answer. "Damn."
"Come on Draco tell us you know you want to."
"We want to be able to help Harry too."
"Yeah, your holding back on us."
"Would you shut up! Otherwise I won't telling you anything." Everyone was silent. "Fine." He started with a sigh. "I have been in contact with one of my friends from Hogwarts who is still a Death Eater." Ron, Sirius and Remus were shooting murderous glares at him. Draco continued without feeling their glares. "He's trustworthy. I've been in a secret friendship with him since fourth year. And he's been a good supplier. I've been getting weekly reports on Harry. Okay. Enough said. I'm going." Draco tried to leave the circle, but everyone stopped him.
"What! And you decided not to tell us about the letter's, why?"
"You little fucker. I should have banished you when I was given the chance." Ron hissed.
Draco sat down again while smirking. "You couldn't get rid of me even if you tried. Hermione loves me too much and she would leave with me." Looking at Hermione for support.
Hermione wasn't smiling. Neither was anyone else. "Tell us everything. Now, if you value your manliness."
Draco swallowed and whispered, "Everything?"
"Everything." Everyone else confirmed.
Again Draco sighed. "You're not going to like it."
"We don't care."
"Well you should. It's bad."
"Malfoy, if you don't start telling us right now you will look worse then that man you beat up." Ron said strongly.
There was a long pause before Draco spoke. "He's making Harry into his pet, as literal as the term comes. Forced him to become an animagus in six months. Let me tell you that's not an easy feat, but he did it. Just this last week in fact. A dog or more specifically a Belgian Sheepdog. Something like this." He pulled out his dog figurine and handed it to Remus who started to pass it around. "Anyway, from what I've read Harry is ever so slowly being more obedient to him and it's killing me to read that. And if my suspicions are correct, which are always right, he's the Dark Lord's slave if you know where I'm going with that." The reaction was instantaneous.
"That bastard."
"I'm gonna kill him."
"Voldemort isn't going to know what hit him when I'm through with him. That bastard doesn't defile my friend and get away with it. Bastard."
Harry's friends were all shocked that Hermione could ever say such things.
"What?" She said innocently.
"Lovely way of phrasing it, Hermione." Draco said grimly.
"I'm finished telling you. I can't take this anymore. I'll be back later and don't wait up." Draco pushed out of the circle and into the night to think about things--and that was mainly Harry.
There you go. Grammar? Complaints? Concerns?...Reviews?
Anything. I want to know.
I'll try to update within two months, but I'm not promising you anything.
