A/N: He he. Here it is. Hope you all like it. It is important that you review… Because I will love you forever if you do:D Ha. Anyways. Here is the newest chapter to my story. Hope you all like it. And another thing. I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get new chapters posted. It must suck to have to wait for them all the time. But there was a problem with the website for a few days and it made it so it was not possible for me to update on ANY of my stories! Blah... Hope you all still like me. :)
A Mudblood's Slave?
His gray eyes shifted from left to right as he walked through Diagon Alley. Even though he knew he looked different on the outside, he still felt as though someone would recognize him. That some random wizard he passed in the street would see through his disguise and expose him to the passerby.
He ran a nervous hand through his dark hair and approached the slave shop at the very entrance of Nocturne Alley. He looked around in wonder when he saw that all of the shops promoting dark magic had been closed. Nocturne Alley now looked as though it were pretty much an extension of Diagon Alley. Not a shady character in sight. He felt a bitter chill run through him.
An older man was outside of the slave shop holding a bell, bellowing to the whole world:
"Slaves! Slaves for sale! The bidding will begin at eight o'clock sharp! Some of your finest ex Death Eaters on display for all to see! Don't be late! Slaves in excellent condition!"
The elderly man with the bell stopped his yelling when he noticed the older looking male standing near him, watching him with interest.
"Can I help you sir?" the gray haired wizard asked.
"Yes," the man said. "I was wondering if you have any idea of the whereabouts of this male?" The dark headed man pulled a folded piece of paper from his cloak and handed it to the elderly man. "He's twenty two years old, about six feet tall, three inches."
"Ah yes, this here is Draco Malfoy," the elderly wizard replied, setting down his bell.
"Right," the dark headed wizard replied. "So you do know who he is?"
"Of course I do! Every wizard in the world has heard his name! One of the nastiest Death Eaters to ever walk the face of the Earth, don't you know! Apart from his father that is…"
The dark headed wizard seemed to tense up at the mentioning of the ever so notorious Lucius Malfoy.
"Still haven't caught that nasty piece of work," the elderly wizard went on oblivious to the wizard's reaction. "But I've heard that Harry Potter and his team have been assigned to hunt him down! Like the dog his is."
"Yes…interesting," the dark headed man said. "So can you tell me anything about this man?" he asked again, pointing to the wanted poster of Draco Malfoy.
"Sure! He was brought in a few days back. Found him hiding out in a cave in the middle of Ghost Forest. Potter and his team brought him in to me that same night-"
"So he's here then?" the dark headed man asked, trying to shield his excitement.
"Afraid he's not sir. A young woman bought him… Perhaps you've heard of her. One of our greatest war heroes, Hermione Granger," the elderly man said with a bright smile. "Wonderful woman she is! Came in all disguised though, didn't even know it was her. Probably because she didn't want the word getting out that she was purchasing such a dangerous slave. Someone she shouldn't be wanting anything to do with… The community's suspicious, you know. What would she want with someone like him?"
At this the dark headed wizard seemed quite intrigued.
"Do you have any idea if she's interested in selling?" he asked the elderly wizard.
"I doubt it, but what do I know? She might want to get rid of that horrible man. But like I said, I find it unlikely. She paid a lot of money for that there Death Eater. If you're interested though, you can come in and have a look at my slaves. All the Death Eaters you could want!" the elderly wizard said. "We're preparing them for the bidding in a half an hour but I could make an exception."
"Sure," the dark headed wizard said. "Why not…"
"You know, I didn't catch your name," the elderly wizard replied looking pleased. This wizard looked wealthy and he was hoping to make a sale.
"Lucretius Magnus," the dark headed wizard replied, holding out his hand. The elderly man looked delighted and he shook it.
"Come right inside Mr. Magnus!" the elderly wizard said. The two disappeared into the shop.
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Draco came into the small kitchen and found Hermione reading near the window, eating cold cereal. He sat down, yawning, in a pair of boxers. His hair was sticking up in the back, because he went to bed with it wet.
"Hello," he said, grabbing a bowl and some cereal.
"Hm…" she mumbled in response. He frowned as he poured the corn puffs into his bowl.
"I didn't hear you come back in last night…" Draco said. "Not like I care I was just saying…"
She looked up from her bowl and sighed.
"I stayed in the house last night," she replied.
"Oh…" he muttered fidgeting with the table cloth. "Why?"
"I was embarrassed for having my little outburst… It's just that Ronald! He's just so…Uhh!" she growled throwing her hands in the air. "And you're really not that bad. Sarcastic and bitter yes, but not horrible."
"You wouldn't have said that two years ago," Draco mumbled, a soggy, half chewed corn puff falling out of his mouth.
"Gross, chew with your mouth closed," Hermione said. He grinned, milk dribbling down his chin, and wiped it off on the back of his hand. Hermione looked away, scowling. Draco chuckled.
"You're such a boy!" she said quite put off.
"I'm a man actually," Draco said stubbornly.
"Well you act like a boy," Hermione said. There was a strange silence between them after that.
"Did Weasley come and talk to you last night?" Draco asked.
"He tried," Hermione said. "But I kicked him in the shin and told him to leave."
"Wow, that's harsh, wouldn't you say Granger?" Draco asked.
"Not harsh. He was trying to tell me how stupid I was being again," Hermione replied. She promptly groaned and let her head fall onto the table. "I hate it when we fight."
"Maybe you shouldn't have bought me then," Draco said.
"Not you too," she said softly.
"Truthfully, I'd rather be here then anywhere else right now. The world is an ugly place Granger," Draco said. "Plus I don't have to take craps in a corner and sleep next to it. But we don't talk about that…"
At this Hermione giggled.
"I'm serious Granger," Draco said sternly.
"I'm sorry!" she said. "It's just funny the way you said it!"
"Yes well…" Draco muttered looking down at his cereal.
"Do you ever want to be somebody new?" Hermione asked suddenly.
"What?" Draco was caught off guard by the strange question.
"I mean, do you even want to try and better yourself?" she asked staring at him intently.
"Well…I guess," he muttered. "I haven't really thought about it."
"Do you ever regret what you've done? To put yourself in the situation where you have no choice in the way your life goes?" she asked.
"I can't really say that I care…" he muttered. "I don't feel bad. You've got to realize most of those men were trying to kill me. It wasn't that I was merciless, torturing people on the battlefield. When I attacked it was to save myself from being obliterated. You couldn't just expect me to stand back and let them shoot spells at me. Unforgivable curses at that! Spells that would kill me instantly if I were hit with one. War is war. It's ugly and it's tiring. I wasn't fighting on any side truthfully… I killed a lot of Death Eaters as well."
"Why?" Hermione asked, sounding quite interested in his stories. She'd always been curious about how the Death Eaters viewed the war.
"Let's just say I wasn't their favorite person," Draco said. "Us Death Eaters don't trust one another. That was part of the reason why we lost. We were too busy trying to take each other out to realize we were losing."
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"Er…Mr. Magnus sir?" Goyle asked from behind him as they walked down the street, Lucretius holding Goyle's leash tightly, pulling him along. He pulled him into an alley and began looking around for options.
"What?" Lucretius snarled at him.
"I just wanted to know where we're going is all…" Goyle said, his eyes wide. This man reminded him of someone he once knew.
"You're going to help me find my son," Mr. Magnus said.
"Oh? And who is your son sir?" Goyle asked.
"Honestly Gregory are you that thick?" Lucius Malfoy suddenly appeared looking quite angry. Gregory looked even more afraid as his best friend's father towered over him.
"Mr. Mal-" A gloved hand clamped over Gregory's mouth and he struggled like a wild animal caught in a net.
"Gregory I swear if you don't fall silent right this moment I will leave you to rot in this alley," Lucius hissed. Gregory fell limp in Lucius' arms and was released. He turned to find Lucretius Magnus back with a cold grin on his face.
"Now, do you have any idea how we can find out where the mudblood lives?" Lucretius asked in his strange American accent.
"How would I know?" Gregory asked defiantly. He was slapped across the face.
"You are my slave Gregory. Therefore you will not talk to me in such a manner. Would you have used that tone on me when I was head of the Death Eaters?" Lucretius asked reasonably as an elderly couple strolled by in the rainy weather.
"No sir," Goyle whispered looking down at his feet.
"Then you will not talk to me like that now. I am your master and you will do as I say," Lucretius whispered.
"Yes sir," Goyle said sadly, not believing his luck. After all he'd been through, he had to get stuck with Lucius Malfoy as a master.
"Now," Lucretius said cheerily. "Any ideas of where we could start?"
"At the Auror office!" Goyle said after a moment of thought. "Potter and Weasley work there… You could talk to them. I didn't recognize you…So they probably won't either."
"Right…" Lucretius said thoughtfully. He closed his eyes tightly and when he opened them again they were a deep brown shade. "Show me where to go."
It was clear that the wheels were turning in Lucretius Magnus' mind as they walked down the street. An idea was brewing and knowing the true Malfoy behind those dark brown eyes told you that those ideas were never good. He smiled cheerily at a young woman passing by and she blushed furiously. Yup… He still had it in him.
A/N: Alright. You must tell me what you think. Told you I'd be updating regularly. Love to those who reviewed. I'm afraid I will lose reviewers though because of that loooooong pause between updates and now the loooooong pause because of the website errors. :( Blah! Anyways. Review if you want more.
