Colin finished rounding up the other six slaves that were coming on the mission. There would be two slaves per group, except whatever group Draco was in would have Colin as the third. Colin was pretty excited to be leaving the manor for a few days. He liked having a change of scenery every now and then. Plus, this was yet more time to spend with Draco. Colin led the slaves to the front of the manor where they were due to meet the rest of the Death Eaters and Draco.
"Aw, there you are Creevey! Good job!" Draco said when Colin arrived at his destination. Colin smiled as he pulled the slaves – they were tied together – with him to stand in front of Draco. But as soon as the smile appeared it left, for he was receiving the strangest stares from the other Death Eaters that were standing around, waiting for orders. Some of the Death Eaters were glaring at him while others put on a mocking smile, leaning over to their neighbor and whispering behind their hands. Colin shrugged it off and waited for Draco's orders.
"Alright everyone, listen up!" Draco called out over the din of conversation. It took a few seconds for the conversations to die down before Draco had everyone's full attention. "Now that we are all here, I would like to hand out each groups assignments. You will be split up into three groups of ten with two slaves to each group. I have written down who belongs in each group as well as the group leader. So when I call your name, come get your parchment with your group.
Likewise, I will jump back and forth between groups," Draco said, withdrawing three folded sheets of parchment from his pocket.
Colin watched the Death Eaters around him rolling their eyes, and even heard someone whisper, "is he being serious?" Colin tried not to glare at them. They weren't taking Draco seriously. Glancing up at his lord, he realized that Draco hadn't noticed the unnecessary muttering of his fellow Death Eaters, but instead had focused his attention on unfolding the separate pieces of parchment.
"In group one, Tobias will be the leader. In group two, Scabiar will be the leader. And in group three, Jackson will be the leader. If you three would come and collect your list, we can organize into our respective groups." Draco said, handing the parchment off to the three group leaders. "You will also find on the top of your list, the name of the river in which you will be searching for. Any questions before we take off?" Draco asked, looking around the group. Colin looked around; again, they looked as bored as ever. Colin sighed and put up his hand, which earned him a few sniggers, whispers, and disgusted stares from the Death Eaters. Draco, however, seemed to know Colin's question before he even asked him.
"Ah, yes, thank you for reminding me, Creevey! I need to give each group two slaves before we head off." Draco quickly pointed out each individual slave and sent them to their respected groups. "And that leaves you with me, Creevey. Now that everything is settled, let us take off! I will start with group one." Draco made his way to the first group, with Colin in tow.
Again, Colin witnessed the eye rolls, the annoyed sighs, and the whispered gossip. They really just did not like Draco, did they? Colin thought to himself as he took a hold of the portkey Draco had set out for them. It was easier to travel by portkey with a big group such as this one than it was to apparate and entire group. Group one seemed to look like they pulled the short straw when Draco announced he was with them first. Colin figured they must have been
jealous about Draco getting all these fantastical missions and they weren't. Yes that had to be it. Colin closed his eyes as he felt an uncomfortable jerk behind his naval, felt his feet leave the floor, and feeling as though he was going to be knocked into the person next to him.
Just as he was starting to feel queasy, he felt his feet hit the ground and started to feel himself topple over. But before he hit the ground, a pair of strong arms caught him at the last minute and stood him upright once more. Colin didn't have to turn around to know that it was Draco who had caught him, but he did anyway to say thanks, but Draco had already turned around to help someone else. Colin just shrugged and picked up the bag he dropped, and went to meet the other slaves in his group.
Draco watched as Colin started falling backwards. Quick as lightening, he jumped forward and caught him before he could hit the ground and straightened him out. Looking up, he noticed some of the Death Eaters looking at him in disgusted confusion. Draco just dropped his eyes and turned around, looking for someone else he could help. Did they really see what he just did? Helping a mudblood slave that was supposed to be beneath him? Would they think him weak? Or maybe it was just coincidence; maybe they were glaring at someone who just passed him. Draco shook his head, brushing off the incident.
After setting up the campsite, it was already pitch dark out. It was time for them to start their search. With their wands lit, they headed towards the river, where there were boats waiting for them. The boats were small and could only accommodate two people aboard. Once everyone was in their boats they took off, the waters alighted with wands. Draco and Colin ended up in the same boat, but of course, Draco was not at all surprised by this. Nor did Colin seem surprised by it either. In fact, he was wearing an extremely happy smile on his face.
It sickened Draco how happy the kid seemed to be sometimes. What was there to be smiling about? Colin was a slave who was taken away from his family, beaten on multiple occasions, and threatened nonstop. So what was it that kept this kid in a constant upbeat mood? Whatever it was, Draco wished he shared some of Colin's enthusiasm; it wasn't easy trying to please someone who made it difficult to please. Draco brought his attention to the water, where he shined his wand's light; the water was so clear that it was easy enough to see below them, to see each individual rock at the bottom. While he was busy searching, Colin was in charge with steering the boat.
After an uncomfortable five hours of silence in the boat, Draco decided to call it a night. He had Colin steer them back to the shore line. Looking around, Draco found that he was the last one to board the shore. He sighed impatiently. He really hoped the others didn't bail out early. Granted, if anything went wrong with this project regardless if it was actually his fault or not, he would be the one to blame because it was his mission. And he knew that the others knew that as well. Heaving another sigh, Draco and Colin made their way back to their tents. Colin was in a tent with the other two slaves, and Draco was in a tent with two other Death Eaters.
Just as Draco was about to enter the tent, he heard the voices of the other two Death Eaters he was sharing with; Tobias and Ethan. They seemed to be speaking in hushed whispers, as if they were scared that someone might overhear them. Normally, Draco was above eavesdropping, but he had heard his name just now, and so he leaned closer to the door to listen.
"I'm telling you, there's something going on between Draco and that Creevey freak. Why else would he be treating him like he's human?" Tobias was saying in disgust. "He's nothing but a filthy mudblood, is what he is."
"Oh I believe ya!" Ethan was saying enthusiastically. "Just this morning, Carp was telling me how he saw the Creevey boy walking out of one of the bedrooms in his pajamas the other day. The slave has his own room for Merlin's sake!"
"His own room now?" Tobias scoffed. "Disgraceful! I can't believe out of all people, the Dark Lord picked him to do this job. I don't even think the boy knows what he's doing."
"Having us come out here fishing for the rock in the dead of night. It's all bullshit if you ask me." Ethan said, slamming down a mug of some sort.
"Well I'll tell ya one thing, if he expects us to take him even half seriously, he needs to stop treating that slave like an equal, because that's going to get him nowhere in this world." Tobias said, giving a great yawn. "Not that he was going anywhere to begin with!" The two of them roared in laughter.
"But seriously, I'd keep a closer eye on the two of 'em. Ya never know what ya might see."
Draco tried to calm down his rapidly beating heart. He could feel his face grow hotter with rage. So that's what they really thought, was it? That he was some incompetent fool that was messing around with a mudblood like Creevey? They were wrong! Draco was going to prove that to them, to all of them! He was going to find this rock even before everyone else did. He turned back and headed towards the boats. And as for Creevey, that boy had another thing coming. There was no way he was going to be treated differently anymore; no way was he going to get first priority above all others. No, because he was and always would be a mudblood. Draco turned right back around, hopped on to the shore, and pushed the boat off the shore, hopping in. It was going to be a very long night.
Colin zipped the tent shut as he made his way out into the cold morning air. It was nearly December, and the first snow fall was starting to begin. Colin drew his sweater tighter to his body as he made his way over to Draco's tent. He was told that today they would be stopping by one of the other groups to see how they were holding up. Colin didn't think they had gotten any luck, though; they would have heard something by now if there was anything. Stopping outside of Draco's tent, Colin was thinking of how to enter without disturbing any of the others when one of the Death Eaters walked out. Colin jumped back in surprise. Upon noticing Colin, the Death Eater gave Colin a nasty looking smile.
"If ya lookin' fer ya boyfriend, 'e ain't 'ere," the Death Eater said, folding his arms across his chest. "'e never showed up last night."
"Never showed up?" Colin asked, looking baffled. "But we can up this path together. I saw him –"
"Are you talkin' back ter me?!" The Death Eater said, flexing his muscles angrily.
"N-no, sir!" Colin said, shaking his head fiercely.
"You may be able ter get away talkin' like that ter ya boyfriend, but not ter me! Now get outta 'ere before I jinx ya!" The Death Eater yelled, pointing away from the tent. Colin turned around and ran, not pausing for a second.
As Colin ran, he felt the confusion and excitement creep on to his face. Where could Draco have possibly gone? If he never showed up last night, did that mean he could have gone back to continue the search on his own? But he would have taken Colin with him, wouldn't he? Unless he was doing it to prove a point? Colin decided to jog down to the lake to see if Draco was there. At the same time, Colin couldn't help but to feel exhilarated by what the Death Eater had said – about Draco being his boyfriend. Colin would give anything for that to be true. But then again…
Was that what the other Death Eaters had thought about them? That they were dating? In all honesty, Colin could care less what anyone else thought of him. In fact, if he and Draco were dating, he would scream it to the world and would want everyone to hear him. What worried him the most was if Draco knew what the others were saying about him. Draco was never one to take to judgment too well, and was known to act in most extreme ways to avoid it. Colin sincerely hoped he didn't know what was going on.
Colin was almost to the edge of the river when he heard a splash to his left. Draco headed his boat on the edge and was hoping out of it, a very exhausted look on his face. "Sir!" Colin called out, heading down the bank towards Draco. Draco looked up at Colin when he called out; but the moment he saw Colin, his exhaustion turned into anger. Colin stopped in his tracks at the look he was receiving.
"What are you doing down here, Creevey?" Draco said, discarding the bow of the boat up against a tree so that it wouldn't float away. He walked up the steep slope towards Colin. "Shouldn't you be doing your duties?"
"I thought we were going to go check on the other group this morning, my lord?" Colin asked, taken aback by Draco's forcefulness.
"Yeah well, I've changed my mind. You're to stay here today and do your duties with the other slaves," Draco said. When he was leveled with Colin, he banged into his shoulder so that Colin stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. Colin just stared after Draco in disbelief. "And don't think of trying to follow me and skip out on your duties! Or you will regret it!" Draco called over his shoulder. Colin sighed; he had no doubt in his mind that he knew what the other Death Eaters were saying about him. He made his way up the slope, dreading the return of his duties.
The next couple of days were hell for Colin. He wasn't allowed to leave the premise of the camp at all, he was stuck doing the worse of the duty work with the slaves, and worse still was Draco either completely ignoring him or otherwise bullying him horrendously. Every time a Death Eater would make a comment about their 'relationship', Draco would pretend like Colin was not there, and if he tried to get his attention, Colin would get punished with piles of duties forced on him. And when the others started noticing the difference in which Draco was treating Colin, they would tease them relentlessly.
"What's the matter with yer boyfriend, Draco? You two get inter some sorta fight?" They would say, causing a great laugh throughout the campsite. Draco would get angry at this, with sparks flying out of his wand. It was moments like these that would cause Draco to disappear to one of the other groups – of course, the talking had already spread to others as well. But he received less ridicule because Colin wasn't around, and he knew that. There were even times when Draco would beat Colin relentlessly.
Colin was in the servants' tent at the moment, cleaning up a particularly nasty cut he had received on the right side of his head. Earlier that morning, Colin had made the mistake of approaching Draco to ask him about replenishing supplies for the camp, for they were running dangerously low. Colin should have approached Draco about it days ago, but he was frightened of what might happen to him, for each beating was getting worse and worse. Colin paid for his mistake, causing him to retreat back into this tent.
Colin sighed. He needed to come up with a plan, a plan to make all of this easier for both him and Draco. He knew he couldn't change what the other Death Eaters thought of the pair of them, but he needed to figure out a way to help Draco realize that it didn't matter what the others thought of him. He needed to get Draco alone to talk with him. But it seemed that lately, every time Draco noticed that they were alone together, he would apparate back to one of the other groups. Colin sighed once more; he was going to have to think long and hard about this. He finished addressing his wounds before reluctantly leaving the tent and returning to his duties.
As luck would have it, the very next day, Draco soon recognized that they were dangerously low on supplies, and needed someone to make the trip with Colin to the manor to get the supplies. Colin had to go because none of the other slaves knew where the supply closet was and none of the Death Eaters were going to do the job of a slave and collect things.
It was blatantly obvious that Draco did not want to be the one to go with him. Colin watched as he asked every Death Eater at the campsite to accommodate Colin to the Manor. But they all flat out refused. "Why can't you go? You need to make up time with your –"
"Keep talking and I'll make sure to throw every curse known to wizards at you!" Draco threatened, pointing his wand at the Death Eater that was poking fun at him. But the man just laughed it off.
"Yeah yeah, run along now! These supplies aren't going to fetch themselves!" The man said, putting on a mock serious voice.
Draco balled his fists up and stomped away from the man and over to Colin, who pretended to be interested in the log he was examining for fire wood later. Draco grabbed Colin by the elbow hard and without warning, they were spinning – Colin felt breathless; they were apparating. As soon as it had started it ended, with Colin still on his feet. He felt a little dizzy but was surprised that he managed to stay up. He felt Draco's warm touch leave him and Draco walked away from him.
Colin sighed and followed after him. While he was glad for the opportunity to finally have Draco alone, he felt ill-prepared and didn't know what to say. But he knew that this might be the only time he had to do this for a while, and so Colin needed to take advantage of it for he was running out of time. Following Draco from behind, he cleared his throat and spoke up,
"My lord, if I may say something –"
"You may not," Draco said annoyed, not bothering to turn around.
"But my lord, I just need to say something quick –" Colin persisted.
"I don't care what you need or don't need, Creevey! We are here to get supplies, not make pointless small talk." Draco said, rounding the corner to the hallway where the supplies were.
"With all due respect sir, this is important –" Colin tried once more. This time, Draco stopped and spun around, causing Colin to nearly crash into Draco. Draco leaned right up in Colin's face – it was the closest they had been to each other in days.
"You don't listen, do you? I told you I didn't want to hear it! I don't care what you have to say, what you think, or whatever it is you want to do. Now get the supplies so we can get the fuck out of here and back to the mission!" Draco said, grabbing Colin by the front of his sweater and pushing him towards the cabinet. Colin stumbled and hit the front of the cabinet with his shoulder. He knew he couldn't give up that easily. He had to keep trying. No matter what the cost.
"You can't let them treat you like this!" Colin yelled before Draco could cut him off. "You're the leader!"
"What did you say to me, you little shit?!" Draco said, growing red in the face.
"Treating me differently isn't going to make them respect you even more –"
"You shut your mouth right now!"
"They are going to criticize you no matter what –"
"I swear to God, Creevey!"
"You might as well do what you truly want because they aren't going to listen –"
"I'm going to throttle you is what I'm going to do –"
"I know this isn't what you really want! I can see it in your eyes – "
WHAM! Colin fell to the ground hard as Draco's fist sank into his stomach. Colin curled up in pain. Breathing heavily, he tried to get up, but as he started rising, Draco's foot caught him in the ribs, causing his breath to leave him momentarily. Colin kept his eyes shut tight, for he was starting to feel dizzy from pain. "Draco, please –" but that was the wrong thing to say.
"How dare you use my name you filthy little mudblood!" Draco yelled, whipping out his wand. With the end pointing at Colin, he cried, "CRUCIO!"
Colin cried out in pain as he felt a thousand tiny knives stabbing him all over his body. Colin couldn't stop his body from convulsing, causing the wounds from Draco's punch and kick to grow more painful. Colin didn't know how long he was under the curse for – an eternity, maybe? But as soon as it was lifted, Colin was unable to move. He laid there on his back, tears running down the side of his face. He could barely keep his eyes open, for he was in that much pain. However, he was able to make out a sliver of Draco bending down and over him, glaring.
"Next time I tell you to shut the fuck up, you'll listen," Draco said in a dead calm voice. His eyes were roaming over Colin's face, taking in the damage that he had caused. Colin could barely make it out, but he knew it was there; he could see a slightly confused – or was it hurt? – look in Draco's eyes. What was he thinking about? Did he regret what he did, or just the extent of his actions? But before Colin could delve deeper into those cold gray eyes, Draco stood up.
"I'll get one of the other slaves to come and collect you. You are hereby banned from the rest of the mission. Get yourself cleaned up and stay in your room until you receive further instructions." Draco said in a monotoned voice. "Nod your head if you understand."
Colin gave a weak nod. He watched as Draco walked out of his per feral and listened to the click clack of Draco's shoes as they started to fade away. Colin let out a painful breath. He supposed he couldn't've messed up that bad for Colin was still being allowed his room. Maybe there was a little remorse in Draco's eyes. But all the same, Colin was pretty upset that he was no longer part of the mission. He really wanted to be there for Draco, but maybe it was best if Colin distanced himself from him for a bit. In this way, Draco wasn't tempted to harm Colin in anyway, and hopefully, the Death Eaters would stop talking about it. Maybe this brief separation was a good thing, and would help Draco clear his mind. Taking another deep breath, Colin tried sitting upright. Bad move; he got extremely dizzy and laid back down. He would have to wait for help to arrive. Whenever that would be.
