A.N: So i know this story is kinda dry and it also kinda sucks but i'm doing the best that i can do. I'm also getting it out as quick as possible so you're not like WTF is this crap that makes no sense because if you're like me, you don't like unfinished work. So here's chapter four, complete with drama :D
DISCLAIMER: JKR's characters, settings, etc.; not mine.
Previously:
Passing through the common room, he decided to sit and enjoy the fire for a while before heading to bed. His mind full of questions, he quickly got lost in the flickering flame. It wasn't until those flames turned green that he woke out of his daze. Staring back at him was the face of Lucius Malfoy.
"Hello, son," Lucius greeted in his light yet demanding voice. Remember that list from before? Lucius was on the list right under Snape.
"Father," was Draco's response. It was obvious to him that his father was here on urgent business; otherwise he wouldn't have risked being seen by Granger.
"I assume you've done as I told you."
"Yes, Father."
"And have you decided yet?"
"Yes, sir."
"The decision, boy. What is your decision?"
"My decision stands as it previously did. I will not join the dark lord." He knew what would be coming soon. He knew that soon, he would be cringing in pain at the hands of his father. Every time he defied his father, he knew of the pain that would follow. But he also knew that he couldn't give in, he couldn't join his father in the ranks of death eaters, and he couldn't be Voldemort's heir – or more, he didn't want to.
"Very well boy, we have some discussing to do. Be in the dungeons in two hours." Lucius didn't wait for Draco's response, the flames in the fireplace immediately reverted to their original color and then extinguished.
As insubordinate as Draco was, he wasn't stupid. He would be in the dungeons in two hours to get his punishment, then he would come back up to his room battered and bruised, try to sneak past Hermione so as to not get questioned, hide his pain, and go to sleep.
He thought about walking up into his room, but he decided against it. Instead, he went to the bathroom. Stepping in front of the mirror, he pulled out his wand and revealed his scars. Instantly, his true skin was shown, marred by bruises and cuts. He remembered the story behind each and every one of them, but remembering hurt. He reconcealed his scars and went back out the common room; he would take a walk to prepare himself for a new set of scars and a new story to remember.
Walking out of the common room, he wondered if he should tell Hermione where he was going, in case she needed him for something, but then he thought of how preposterous that sounded; why would she need him, when she's been avoiding him since they got to the school.
He began his walk through the corridors. He knew it was past curfew, but that didn't really matter to him. The silence was deadly; if a pin dropped three floors down, he was sure he would hear it. He walked to a window overlooking the lake. That lake was the most peaceful part of the whole school – too close to the forbidden forest for scared souls to venture to, too unexciting for adventure seekers to stop at. If only he could go sit at the lake, maybe he could think straight.
It wasn't as if he was exactly scared of his father, because if he was he would have already caved in and joined. He was, however, apprehensive when around him. He thought back to the first time the Cruciatus curse was used on him…
Twelve year old Draco sat in his room, reading a book. He didn't do much these days, just waiting for school to start. He could go outside, but what fun would that be when he'd already explored every inch of the manor's grounds.
"DRACO!!!" the voice of his father rang through the manor. Draco knew this meant he was angry, for when he wasn't completely infuriated, he just sent up a house elf.
"Coming, father," Draco said, dropping his book on the ground as he sprinted out the room. Running through the manor to Father was always a pain; it was the only setback to having such a large house. Finally making it to Lucius, he stood as straight and tall as he could.
"Have you been practicing, boy?" Lucius asked in his harshest tone.
"Y-Yes, sir," Draco answered timidly. He knew he was lying, he didn't want to practice the evil ways of his father, especially on the house elves.
"Let's see then shall we," he turned. "Dobby!" he called. Instantly, the elf appeared and positioned himself a few feet away from Draco. "Alright boy, go ahead."
Draco stood stiff, scared. He knew he was about to once again displease his father and would therefore be punished for it. He raised his wand and pointed it at the helpless elf, whose eyes were wide with terror, as it too expected him to be able to perform at top efficiency.
"Crucio!!!" Draco yelled, wand still pointed at the elf. Dobby hunched over and winced, but did not make a sound. The spell was not strong enough, as Draco really had not been practicing and therefore failed.
"Well…" Lucius began.
Draco just stood there, staring at his father, preparing for another punishment.
"What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I…I don't know. I practiced, I really did." Draco tried to get himself out of it in a vain attempt at lying.
"LIES!!" Bellowed Lucius. He then proceeded to knock his cane into Draco's back, toppling the boy over onto the floor. "You did not practice, did you, you insolent little boy?"
"Yes father, I did, I really did" Draco pleaded.
"STOP LYING TO ME!" Lucius stomped on his son's arm, the next sound heard was a crack. "Now, did you practice?"
"No, sir" Draco admitted, hoping this father would stop beating him.
"Very well… shall I demonstrate what your curse should have looked like?"
Draco desperately wanted to say no, but he was in so much pain he gave in, just this once. "Yes, sir."
Lucius lifted his wand, and pointed his wand at Draco, whose head was turned, eyes trained on Dobby. "Crucio!" In the next instance, Draco was writhing in pain, screaming bloody murder as his father stood over him and cackled his evil cackle. "Now do you see the power in practicing?"
Draco, of course, couldn't answer because of the pain he was subjected to. It ran through his body like electricity, shocking every part oh him. He now understood why this was an unforgivable curse. Once, he thought that people were exaggerating when they described the pain that the victim would be in, now he knew that they sugarcoated it.
The spell was lifted when Draco ceased all movement. The pain was too much; he stopped writhing and just lay there. Lucius put his wand back into his pocket and stepped over his unconscious son and walked out of the room, more satisfied with his own parenting skill than he was with his son's wizarding ability.
When Draco awoke, he was being tended to by Dobby. The little elf didn't say anything, he just tended to Draco's open wounds and left. Draco left soon after the elf was gone and went into the bathroom in his room to examine himself. The scars on his body were worse now than they were ever before. He didn't want to linger on them too long though, so he concealed them, crawled to his bed and went to sleep.
Pulled back into reality, Draco realized that he had to go meet his father. He wasn't afraid, and he expected the worst, but he still went anyway, for he'd rather be beaten, bruised, and alive than dead. He walked down the silent corridors toward the dungeons, thinking about what he would say to his father. He kept walking until he got to his destination, went to the first empty classroom, and walked in to meet with his father, hoping to come out breathing.
~.~.~.~.DMHG.~.~.~.~
Hermione knew it was wrong to do what she was doing, but she continued to do it anyway. What she'd overheard changed a lot of her perceptions of a certain Slytherin, and now she was worried about him. Sure, it wasn't right to eavesdrop on his conversation with his father, but it's not like she did it on purpose. She'd just been going to the common room when she heard two voices, and she didn't want to intrude.
She continued to follow him, only stopping when he stopped. She noticed when he stared out to the lake. He was the only other person she had ever know to just sit at the lake; she'd seen him there one day last year when she wanted to be alone, away from Harry and Ron.
As he stared out, she wondered what he was thinking about so intently. As time passed, she fell asleep, bored from Draco's stillness. When she awoke, he was nowhere to be seen. She quickly straightened up and ran toward the dungeons.
As she got closer, she started to hear voices. She could instantly tell that they belonged to Draco and Lucius. She didn't know what was going on, but she continued to walk toward the classroom that the noise was coming from. She leaned on the door carefully, so as not to make a sound, and listened to the conversation.
"My son, please explain to me why you are refusing to join us." This was most definitely Lucius.
"I've already said, father, that I don't want to live the life you've set for me." Hermione had never heard Draco sound so intimidated. At this moment she knew that it was not a ruse, and that Draco – as much of a evil arsehole as he was – was not evil to the core. He wasn't even half as evil as she thought him to be.
She could hear footsteps now, so she looked around to see if someone was coming. No one was there, so they must have been coming from inside the room. She heard Lucius' voice again. "This is not acceptable, Draco."
"I know, father, but neither is what you do." The net sound heard was a great resounding slap. Hermione just about jumped out of her skin at the sound. She'd never known that Draco was hit by his father. She'd always thought they he was a spoiled brat. This day was opening so many windows which she'd mistaken as walls.
"Now, boy, do want to try that again?" Lucius sounded pissed beyond pissed. Hermione could hear the same snakelike tone she heard when Snape talked.
"No, sir"
"Now, as we discussed last time, you will join us and you will like it. I don't care if you don't consider living the life I've prepared for you an actual life, but you will live it. Is that understood, dear son?"
"No, sir" Hermione heard a faint "oof" and a crack. She knew that that meant something was broken. She was scared for him.
"When will you learn, son, that the only way to live is to join us? Otherwise, you will be seen as a traitor."
"I don't care, father, I don't want to join you." Hermione could hear him trying to get up. Then she heard Lucius yell.
"Crucio!" She heard Draco scream in pain. At that moment, she was glad that the door was closed. She wouldn't be able to take it if she saw him helplessly writhing. Even if she was a different person, she still couldn't watch someone be tortured, even if it was Draco.
The screaming continued, but Lucius talked over it. "You will join us, Draco, if it's the last thing you do. I will make sure that you know that there will be no insubordination in my family. You will continue to be the heir of the dark lord, for it's what you were born to do, and you will like it, or you will die."
There wasn't a reply from Draco, but Hermione did hear Lucius' footsteps. She quickly but quietly scurried to get around the corner and hide. She heard the door open, she heard the door close, and she heard retreating footsteps. She waited a good five minutes before going to the room and opening the door.
What she saw inside scared her to bits. A battered, bruised, and bloody Draco lay unconscious on the floor, in the corner. She rushed to him. He looked minutes away from dying. It was terrifying. She did every spell she knew to stop his bleeding. She could only do so much, but she did remember something. She had to wake him up just incase he hit his head so he wouldn't get a concussion.
"Draco" she whispered, gently poking him so that he would wake up. She didn't want to hurt him anymore. "Please get up, Draco." She wad frightened – she couldn't wake him. She didn't know what else to do, so she summoned a stretcher from the hospital wing. A few minutes later, it floated into the room.
She had a few problems getting him onto it, but she eventually did and she began rolling him out of the room. When she got to the first staircase, she had to stop and think. Draco wasn't that heavy, but she doubted that she could carry him up the stairs on this stretcher. Eventually she came up with the most logical idea. She cast a disillusionment charm on him and ran up to get Madam Pomfrey.
She banged on the door of the hospital wing. "Madam Pomfrey!" she yelled. When the door finally opened, the medi-witch in her nightgown came out.
"What is it, Miss Granger?"
"Please, Madam Pomfrey, you have to come quickly. Draco is seriously injured and I couldn't carry him up here." Hermione was frantic. Immediately, the medi-witch was off, running down the hallway as fast as she could (which was actually kind of slow). Hermione followed after her.
When they finally reached the Draco, Madam Pomfrey was confused. "Where is he Miss Granger?" Hermione retracted her disillusionment charm and Madam Pomfrey rushed to aid him. Hermione helped the medi-witch bring Draco up to the hospital wing, they set him on a bed, and Hermione was finally able to calm herself.
In the midst of hyperventilation, the medi-witch asked "What happened to him?" Hermione didn't know how to answer this question. 'What if Draco doesn't want anyone to know that his father does this to him?' she thought to herself. She would let him tell the truth or lie if he wanted, and she wouldn't stop him because it was his secret to tell. So she lied…
"I don't know – I was walking around looking for him because we were done patrolling and I found him like that." It was the best she could come up with, but she was content with it.
"Alright, Miss Granger, if you would please return to your room, I will take care of Mr. Malfoy."
Hermione got up and walked out of the hospital wing toward their dorm. She couldn't help but wonder where her compassion for Draco had come from. They weren't friends or anything; it would've been easier to just leave him there. But she couldn't. It would've hurt her to know that he died or got too seriously injured and she was right there.
Finally, she reached the portrait, said the password, and stepped in. She sat in the common room, and stared at the fire, getting lost in her thoughts. Why wasn't Draco joining the dark lord? Why was his father such a bastard? And was he as evil as she thought he was? Apparently not. As these questions rolled around in her head, she fell asleep, opening the doors to a nightmare replay of the nights occurrences.
A.N: So...what'd you think...leave me a review please. :D I'd love it if you did. Also....the DMHG is finally starting show. and i was able to work some Draco drama in because it was getting too Hermione centered. :D
