Chapter 9: Wait

The moment they landed, Harry knew something was wrong. "Come on!" Draco insisted, but none of the Golden Trio moved. Hermione's eyes darted around, unfamiliar with where she was, as Ron glanced uneasily towards the looming doorway.

At that moment, McNair strode out of the house. It took him a moment to register the site of a 16 year old death eater standing there with the three most wanted people in the country. "Caught 'em, did ya? Bring 'em in, then, Malfoy," he spat. To assist Draco, he shoved the three of them inside, with Draco striding in afterwards, but still lacking his usual arrogant manner.

Before any of the three could act, Draco snatched up each wand from its owner's robes, storing them within his own.

His conscience squirmed slightly as he did this. Do you really want to do that, Draco?

"….our best chance of capturing them," Bellatrix was saying, walking down the hall towards him. Inwardly, Draco winced at his aunt's timing. He'd never liked Aunt Bella much, a feeling that had only strengthened over the past year.

It doesn't matter what I want anymore, Draco reminded himself.

"Well done, Draco. Well done. Now, what do you say we tie up these little heroes?"

Luckily, Draco didn't have to answer. "Anyone protests, and you'll give me a chance to find out how well I can use the Cruciactus. I'm a bit out of practice." She smiled wickedly. "Walk."

Throwing Draco one more dirty glance, Harry walked away, his friends following his lead.

***

Draco walked determinedly down the halls. He knew where he wanted to go, and he had no intention of letting anything get in his way. He traced the familiar path to his parents room, hardly looking up from the ground.

Draco stood outside the room, knocking on the door while trying to distract himself from the fact that he had just turned in Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

When the door swung open, Draco was greeted with a hug from his mother and a "Did you catch them?" from his father.

"Yes."

"Good."

Lucius Malfoy nodded curtly and turned back into the room, not one to let more emotion show than need be.

"You-Know-Who. Is he coming?" Draco asked, half afraid of the answer.

"He told us not to disturb him for at least two days yesterday, meaning that he'll return tomorrow, I expect."

"Why?"

"I don't know, and wasn't a fool enough to ask him," Lucius snapped in place of Narcissa.

Draco nodded. He wasn't sure where Voldemort went on occasion, but suspected it had something to do with his plans to infiltrate the ministry. No Death Eater was enough of an idiot to question it, so the mystery remained unsolved.

"And until then…?" he asked, unsure of what to do.

"Until then, I guess we wait," suggested Narcissa.

Wait. He had to wait in this gloomy house, full of people he hated, people who hated him, people who he'd betrayed, and people who would love to betray him. He had to wait for Voldemort's return to the manor, to decide who would live and who would not.

Author's note: sorry, my chapters really are sort of short! Please review though! Hate it or love it, either way, please let me know!