Chapter 9: Unprepared
For the first time in weeks Draco Malfoy had gotten a good night's sleep. To anyone who asked he would say it was because the mission was going well. But that little corner in his brain said it was because Ginny had kissed him first.
With his brain well rested and his energy refreshed, Draco headed up to breakfast. He chanced a glance at the Gryffindor table, but Ginny's head of bright red hair was absent. He spotted Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table and pushed himself between them. They grunted a greeting, to busy stuffing there faces. Draco stared at them for a moment, his lip curling in disgust, before he helped himself to his own plate of food.
The morning post arrived and several birds fluttered into the Great Hall. Draco hardly bothered to look up; his parents hadn't sent him a letter since the start of term. There was no need; they both knew what he was doing. What he had to do.
He was therefore surprised when his eagle owl landed neatly in front of him. It had a small letter tied to its leg that read, Draco, on the front in his father's neat writing.
Sure this could mean nothing good; Draco untied the letter and sent the owl off. Not wanting to open it in front of the other Slytherins, he excused himself and left the Great Hall. He stared down at the small letter in his hand, dread creeping up on him.
"Draco! Where are you going?" His head snapped up at the sound of Ginny's voice and he turned to look at her. Her brown eyes were questioning, he couldn't help but notice how soft her face looked without the usual hatred etched at him. Things had really changed between them.
"Common room." He said quickly and she shrugged acceptingly before heading into the Great Hall.
As soon as he had escaped into the cool, empty quiet of the Slytherin common room he headed toward his favorite chair. He sank into the black leather and leaned back, closing his eyes, the letter clasped firmly in his hand. He allowed himself time to relax before he ripped open the letter and pulled out the folded piece of parchment.
His hands shook slightly as he shook the letter open and began to read.
Draco,
The Dark Lord wants a report on the current status of your mission. For your sake I hope you have something good to report.
Be at Snape's office at 9 o'clock sharp Friday night.
-Lucius Malfoy
Draco stared blankly at his father's signature. He always knew this was going to happen, he just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. He crumpled the paper up in his fist and tossed it into the fire, watching it curl and burn.
* * * *
Friday brought with it a fresh fall of snow. The ground was sprinkled with the white powder by the time Draco was walking past the Great Hall, off to Snapes headmaster's office. He said the password and headed up the spiral staircase. He'd never actually been there before and he gazed around in wonder.
"Ready?" Came a lazy drawl and Draco's head snapped forward. Snape was standing behind the headmaster's desk his gaze calculating and serious.
"Yes." Draco answered sneering, he still wasn't happy with the man. It was because of him that he was on this current mission. Snape nodded once and didn't speak, but handed over a small black box of floo powder. Draco headed toward the fireplace without looking at him and stared into the glowing fire for a second before throwing a handful of the powder into the flames.
"Its ok to be afraid, Draco." Draco turned around and saw Snape staring at him intently his gaze curiously calculating. Draco stared back, his heart pounding in his chest. He cleared his mind of all emotions and thoughts making it blank and calm.
"I'm not." He said clearly, before stepping into the bright green flames.
At first glance Malfoy Manor appeared to be completely deserted. Before Draco realized his mother, pale and withdrawn, was standing on the other side of the room. She had a dark hood pulled over her pale blonde hair but she pulled it back and hurried over to him.
"Draco!" She said wrapping her long arms around him in a strong hug.
"Mother." He said shortly worming his way out of her hug. His heart was still pounding and a slight gleam of sweat was building on his face but he stared determinedly ahead. "Where is he?" His mother gave him one quick, searching look before gripping his shoulder tightly.
"Of course, this way." She steered him out of the room and down one of the grand marble halls. His mother led him to one of the larger meeting rooms, her walk getting more rigid with each step. Draco entered and immediately spotted the tall, snakelike figure standing in the center of the room. Panic momentarily took hold of him but he managed to master it and step forward.
"Master." He said making a deep bow before Voldemort. When he stood up right he managed not to make eye contact, but stared straight ahead his eyes resting somewhere over the tall mans left shoulder. He could practically feel the scarlet eyes boring into him and tried to contain a shudder.
"So, Draco, any progress?" The mans cold, harsh tone chilled him to his very core, but he tried to reply as steadily as possible.
"Y-yes, master." He stood as straight as his could, determine to prove his worth, but he couldn't stop the layer of sweat from covering his upper brow. Voldemort sneered down at him and turned his attention to a darkened corner of the room.
"Snape, is he doing well?" Draco's head turned in the direction of the answering voice, surprised. He hadn't heard Snape come into the room.
"Reasonably better than last time." Snape said his gaze intently focused on the Dark Lords face. Voldemort stared into Snapes eyes for several seconds before turning his attention back to Draco.
"Very well then, I expect you to keep an eye on him. Tell me if he fails in his duties, again. At least you haven't failed me Snape." Snape dipped his head shortly as a sign of respect and stepped back into his corner. Voldemort continued to stare down at Draco, who was staring nervously over his shoulder again.
"Well, Draco. I think you need a little reminder of the pain. Just to remember what awaits you should you fail me."
Panic gripped him and he actually looked into Voldemorts face which he realized a second to late was a mistake. The red eyes glittered strangely in the snakelike face and burned into him. He took an involuntary step backwards and saw the long fingered hand raise a thin, long wand. From somewhere behind him his mother let out an instinctive gasp and he turned around to see her facing away from him, his fathers arm wrapped around her shoulder. His gaze was unreadable as he stared off into the fireplace on the other side of the room, his back rigid.
Draco turned his gazed back to Voldemort whose wand was now pointing directly at him and he took another step backwards. Words began to form on his lips but then the pain hit him and all he could do was scream.
*****
The school seemed completely deserted, the dungeons even more so. The Slytherin common room was entirely empty and still shaking Draco took a seat in one of the green chairs. His usually sleek blonde hair was no longer glossy and perfect and he ran his hand through it his breathing slightly shallow.
"What's wrong with you, Malfoy?" Instinctively, Draco stood up and pulled out his wand pointing it directly at the newcomer. Nott held up both his hands in mock surrender and took the seat across from Draco. Slowly, Draco lowered himself back into his place and put away his wand. Nott watched his process with a single eyebrow raised his look calculating. Draco remained slightly stiff in his seat until his breathing had returned to normal. And he tried to block out the pain that so recently had taken hold of his entire body. They sat in silence for several long moments before Nott spoke.
"Having problems?" He asked lightly his face was cleared of any emotions besides polite interest. Draco didn't bother to even look up from the floor that he'd been staring at since he'd sat back down. He simply shrugged his shoulders and twitched his head a little to the left. He refused to allow Nott any further insight on his mission.
"I could help." Nott's voice was quiet and refined. He face gave away none of his emotions. Draco finally looked up and shook his head.
"I have to do this alone." He said calmly and rose from his seat and headed to his dormitory; leaving Nott starting down into the barely glowing fire.
A/N: Sorry it took much longer than usual! School has finally started and I'm taking drivers Ed at night so there won't be a lot of time for me to write. So that means longer time between updates. But I'll try and write as fast as I can. I have everything planned out, I just need to write it. Please review! It inspires me to write.
