I refrained from closing my eyes, from covering my ears with my hands. She screamed in agony, her body shaking and shuddering on the cold stone floor. Bellatrix laughed menacingly, rubbing my shoulders with glee. I fought the urge to vomit all over the ground, and I watched in despair as my mother was attacked with the Cruciatus Curse over and over again. Her blue eyes were wide and fearful, tears silent running down her face and into her white blonde locks.

"Does this remind you of your task, Draco?"

I peered into the Dark Lord's red eyes, the evilness glinting at me with amusement. He flicked his wand, and my mother's body went limp, her quiet weeping tugging at my heart.

I nodded curtly and bowed. "Yes, my Lord. I am sorry I am failing you."

He nodded and smiled cruelly, sending chills down my body. "I understand that you are young, Draco. These are difficult tasks for someone of your age, but they must get done. You still have until the end of the school year, Draco. If the Death Eaters are not into the castle, and Albus Dumbledore is not dead by July First, then you will watch me kill your mother. You may tend to her now." He stood from the room and glided out, Bellatrix following behind him like a puppy. I ran to my mother and cradled her petite form in my arms, running my fingers through her hair as she cried in my shoulder. I let the tears escape and run down my face, and I rocked my mother back and forth in my lap.

"I'm so sorry, Mother. I won't fail you. I won't let you die."

*Later than night*

I brushed her hair gently, her blue eyes closed in contentment. I watched her face relax, the stress leaving her body as I hummed her favorite song to her.

"Draco, I am not angry with you."

I sighed irritably and set the brush down on my mother's golden vanity. "It doesn't matter if you are or not, I am angry with myself. I shouldn't be so distracted." And that was true. I shouldn't have allowed Granger to control me. I shouldn't have let her control my thoughts, my mind, my dreams. My mother should be at the center, the focus of my thoughts. I was ashamed at myself for letting some girl get the best of me, for letting myself fall in love with the number one girl that I couldn't have.

"Draco, please do not blame yourself for what happens to me. The Dark Lord is just trying to scare you."

I scoffed and glared at her. "You know that if I don't pass my tasks, you'll die." She flinched, and my eyes softened on her. I huffed and kissed her temple, and she smiled sweetly at me. "Mother, I can't fail. I can't allow myself to get distracted. I have to do this. If I don't, he's gonna' take you away from me. You're the only family I have."

She sighed and stood from the chair, her back straight and elegant, just as a Pureblood wife should stand. "Draco, you have your father."

I sneered at the vanity. "You know as well as I do that we wouldn't be in the predicament if he hadn't failed the Dark Lord."

"No, we wouldn't be in this predicament if he had never joined the Dark Forces."

I stuffed my hands in my pockets and sat down on my mother's ivory couch, staring at the fire as the flames danced together in harmony. "Why did you marry him, Mother? He's no good."

My mother sat down next to me, running her fingers through my hair. I shut my eyes and sighed in peace. "Your father is very ambitious, Draco. He knows what he wants in life, and he'll do anything to get it. At one point in time, he wanted to be a Death Eater. Death Eaters are powerful; they have a certain status among other wizards and witches because of who they serve. They intimidate and force fear on people. They are bowed down to, all because they are a part of the Dark Lord's circle. Lucius wanted that power. He craved to be at the top, to be feared by little unknown and unimportant witches and wizards."

I snorted. "Yeah, that's attractive, Mother. Good pick."

She smiled and pressed her lips to my hair. "My parents had picked Lucius as a potential mate for me. As a young girl, I wanted someone with ambition, with pride, with riches. Lucius was all of those things. He was also one of the most attractive guys in our year. He was everything a girl could want, and when I found out that he wanted me too, I picked him as my future husband. We were married after Hogwarts, and we had lived happily ever after. At the time, I wanted Lucius to be a Death Eater. I didn't know how horrible that life was until I was thrown in it. I wanted Lucius to have the power he wanted. However, when he got the mark, and when he realized all of the things that came with it, we both realized how terrible that life was."

"But you're stuck in it."

She nodded solemnly. "We had no one to save us from this life. When I had you, we didn't want this life for you. We didn't want you to grow up and become a Death Eater. We didn't know the Dark Lord would come back. When he did-"

"You knew I'd have to take the mark someday."

She hesitated but nodded. "Draco, we knew the Dark Lord would ask for you to take the mark, and we knew that you'd have to take it or die. Because of the decisions your father made when he was young, you were born into this way of life. You were born to be this. We thought he'd ask for you after you graduated Hogwarts. He usually recruits the offspring of his members after they've become adults. But because your father failed to get the prophecy, the Dark Lord punished us by forcing you to take the Dark Mark. Oh baby, I am so sorry!"

She threw her arms around me, and I clutched her tightly to me. "Mother, it isn't your fault. It's not even Father's fault. You were both young and naïve. You both made a mistake. I just wish I didn't have to do this. I wish I hadn't been recruited. I just wish I had a choice." Because what Granger failed to realize was that I had been born into this life. I had been forced into the Dark Arts since I was born. I couldn't escape it. Even if I had said no, the Dark Arts would surround me and kill me. I had no choice. I had no escape. This was my destiny. This was my fate.

Mother pecked me on the cheek, and I smiled warmly at her. "You are so brave."

"Am I?" I muttered. I wasn't brave enough to let Granger go when I should have. I wasn't brave enough to fight for Granger when she left me. I wasn't brave enough to kill Dumbledore with my own wand.

Mother sniffed and nodded. "Draco, you're not running from your tasks. You're committed to fulfilling them. You're doing what you can to pass them. You're accepting this horrible life, and, no matter how much you hate it, you're brave enough to go through with it. I am so proud of you, my dove."

I relaxed and hugged my mother tightly, my heart aching at the endearment. Every year for my birthday, my mother would bring me to the rose gardens early in the morning and release a flock of white doves. I would run after them, counting them until I reached the number of my new age. When I was ten, I counted ten, and I told my mother that she could stop doing this. I was not a little boy anymore. My mother just smiled and told me that I was her little boy, her little dove, and she'd do this for the rest of my life. During Hogwarts, I'd sit in the Hogwarts' gardens and read my mother's birthday letter to me. When I open the letter, doves would soar from the pages and float around me, and I would cry from missing her. I missed her so much during Hogwarts. I loved my mother to death.

"Mother, I feel like I can't do it," I confessed, inhaling her flowery scent. "I feel like dying all the time. I don't want to continue this life. I don't want to be a Death Eater."

"Oh baby boy, I know. I know how much it hurts you to do this, how much stress it puts on you, but you'll get through. Why are you so determined to do these tasks, Draco?"

"To save your life."

She smiled at me and kissed me lightly on the forehead. "Then just keep me in your mind. Just think of me, and I'll keep you alive." I sighed and nodded, realizing that thinking of my mother only sent nightmares of her dead on the ground in my head. But thinking of Granger, I stayed sane. Thinking of Granger distracted me from thinking of my lifeless mother. Granger gave me strength, and she took her strength away from me.

My mother's brow furrowed. "Draco, tell what's bothering you."

"Nothing, Mother," I muttered.

"Please tell me. I want to help you."

Help you.

Didn't Granger want to help me? Didn't she say that she would've helped me if I wanted it? I did want it. I didn't deserve it.

I shook my head and stood from the couch. "No one can help me with this situation, Mother. I ruined it already."

"Is it a girl?"

I sighed and leaned my forearm on the doorframe, glaring at the Dark Mark. "It was a girl."

Mother stood suddenly. "It's a boy now?"

I scoffed. "The only boy that gives me trouble is Blaise, but we both know that already."

"So, who's the girl?"

"Doesn't matter."

She sighed in frustration, and I smirked at my small mother. She had her hands on her hips and a small frown on her face. Mother didn't frown unless she was seriously agitated. Frowns gave her wrinkles, and she would never leave the manor if she had a wrinkle. She'd die of humiliation. "Draco, what happened with the girl? At least tell me that much."

"Mother, you don't want to know what I did with the girl. That's not a conversation we should have."

She blanched, and her frown deepened. "Draco, get to the part where it ended. Please."

I sighed again and leaned my head back onto the door. I swallowed and murmured, "She saw the mark."

Mother paled and stepped towards me. "Are you alright?"

I shrugged. "I spent the night crying after she walked out on me." I frowned. "I don't really remember anything after that. I woke up and ended up roaming the halls until Blaise found me. Then, I was on the train to go home for the holidays. Then, I was standing on Platform 9 ¾. Everything is really a blur after she walked out on me."

Mother rested her hands on my arms, and I cringed as her finger brushed my Dark Mark. I hated it. I hated it for running my life. "Oh Draco," Mother whispered. "Did you love her?"

I took in a sharp intake of breath and looked my mother in the eye. They were so warm, so comforting. Granger's eyes used to be warm and comforting, until she left me. "I did," I whispered. "I loved her so much. I still love her. I want her back so much, Mother. I need her. She kept me from drowning in the darkness of my life. She was the one good thing in my life besides you, the one thing that kept me from spiraling out of control. She's gone now. She's gone, and she's never coming back."

"Oh Draco, who was the girl? What Pureblooded female wouldn't understand the trials and tribulations of being a Death Eater? Tell me the girl's name, and I can tell you if her father is in the Dark Lord's circle or not. He most likely is."

I swallowed ad shuffled from one foot to the other. "Erm, she wasn't a Pureblood."

My mother jumped away from me as if I had just slapped her, and my heart sank to my stomach. "Excuse me?" Mother asked, her eyes staring curiously at me.

"She was Granger. Hermione Granger."

Mother's eyes widened, and her hands clutched her emerald dress. Her cheeks reddened, and her lips parted in shock. "Hermione Granger!" Mother squeaked, and I nodded meekly. She spluttered, her face a pale block of shock. "How did that happen?"

I shrugged innocently, my cheeks blushing with embarrassment. "Sex."

Mother paled even more, and she clutched at her heart dramatically. "Oh bloody hell."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "It doesn't matter now, Mother. We're not together anymore."

"Well that doesn't change the fact that you two were together. Merlin, did she tell the Order?"

I frowned and banged my head against the wall. "Merlin, I don't know! I didn't even think of that!"

Mother's eyes suddenly softened, and she gave me a small smile. "You didn't think about it because you only thought of her."

I nodded and sighed angrily. "Mother, she'll tell the Order. She was so mad at me when she found out I was a Death Eater. She said that she was loyal to Potter. That means she'll tell. Oh, how could I be so stupid?"

Mother's smile left her face, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I leaned into her for support, trying to soak up any strength she had so I could be strong enough to take on the Order when they came after me. "I don't think she told the Order. Draco, it's the last week of Winter break. They'd have raided the manor and attacked us by now."

I sighed and relaxed a little. That was true, but Potter would be pounce me as soon as we got back to Hogwarts. I sighed again and held Mother tighter. What if she told Dumbledore? He'd expel me from Hogwarts, and then I'd never get my task done.

"Draco, tell me about her." Mother said, and I could feel her smile as I sighed. My mother ran her fingers through my hair as I started with Granger's appearance. She wasn't the most gorgeous thing in the world, but she had her own beauty, especially with those freckles on her face. Then, I talked about how much Granger loved to learn, how much she loved knowledge, how much she loved to learn new things. Granger had to be the best at everything, because she strived to be number one. She strived to be better than everyone else to show that Muggleborns could do it, and that they could do it better. She had to be the number one because she wanted everyone to know that she was on top, that she was the Queen, that she was the boss. She was arrogant and prideful, but people mistook it for bragging and cockiness. I laughed, and Mother laughed too. Granger did brag, but she would deny it vehemently. She didn't want to brag, didn't want to seem arrogant, but she did anyway. That was just her. That was her personality. I did the same thing, and I wasn't ashamed to be arrogant and cocky. Everyone needed to know that I was the best, too. That's just how Granger and I were wired.

"Does she love you, Draco?"

I huffed. "She did, Mother." And I told her of the looks and the smiles Granger gave me. I told her of the sweet touches and adoring kisses Granger gave me. My mother was shocked to hear that Granger even told me that she loved me. Then, I told her of what happened that night she left me.

"Draco, she still loves you," Mother said. "You have to give her time. You have to realize that she's Harry Potter's best friend. She's fighting for the light, and she fell in love with someone fighting for the dark. She may not understand why you don't accept help. For Hermione, she's always had a choice. She's never been forced to do something she didn't want to. You, on the other hand, were forced into this lifestyle since birth. She doesn't understand that, and you have to give her time to think this through. She's hurt right now, just like you are. She'll come back around, Draco."

I nodded, but my heart was heavy. She wouldn't come back to me. She hated me. I deserved her hate, not her love.

"Why are you so accepting?" I asked Mother. "I thought you'd hate her."

Mother chuckled. "I don't hate her, but I don't like her either. Draco, I'm sorry but… she's a Muggleborn. You deserve someone much better than that, someone with pure blood and fine lineage. She's none of that. But, if she makes you happy, then I won't complain. We can't help who we fall in love with, just look at me for example. If she's the girl for you, then she's the girl that I'm going to have to accept. I just want you loved, Draco. If she loves you, then I'll learn to love her, too."

My eyes burned with tears, and I buried my face into Mother's shoulder. "I love you so much."

She sniffed and tightened her arms around me. "I love you more, my little dove."

Dove.

Blaise sat on my canopy bed, his face a mask of indifference as I finished my story, and he was picking invisible lint off of his fur coat.

"So," he started smoothly, his dark lips curling at the edges into a smirk, "you're in love with the Mudblood of the century." I sneered at him but nodded. "And you've written her a note." I rolled my eyes and nodded. "And you want me to deliver the note to said Mudblood of the century."

"Damn it, Blaise, are you gonna' do it or not?"

He tilted his head to the side, his brow furrowing as if he was making a difficult decision. "What's it say?"

I scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest. "That's none of your business."

He shrugged. "You could do it yourself. Oh wait, she's not talking to you. So that means you have to rely on me." He leaned closer to me and snatched the letter out of my hand. "I want to know what it says." He pocketed the letter, and I smirked at my best mate. He was going to give Granger my letter.

I leaned back into my satin pillows, and the tension left me in a hurry. "Nothing that important. Just that I love her, and I wish her the best. And that I wish she would let me explain the Dark Mark."

Blaise huffed and snatched the plate of sweets away from Ranny, my personal house-elf, and I frowned slightly. I liked Ranny; she always did what I asked and snuck me chocolates past midnight when I was a child. I never liked seeing her unappreciated.

Ranny walked towards me and handed me a bag of Sugar Quills and Chocolate Truffles. "You're sweets, Master Draco."

I took the bag and smiled at Ranny. She smiled back and apparated out.

Blaise sucked on the head of his Chocolate Frog. I motioned for the letter, and he handed it to me curiously. "Why don't you explain the Dark Mark in the letter?" he asked me.

I shrugged and attached the bag of sweets to the letter. "Because I'd rather do that in person. I can't give out my personal secrets in a letter."

"Are you afraid the goons are gonna' read it?" Blaise asked me as he pocketed the letter again.

I shook my head. "No, the letter is invisible to all other eyes except for Granger's."

"How would the letter know if Granger is reading it?"

"I charmed the parchment so that the words would only appear to Granger's touch."

Blaise nodded and smirked. "What if she doesn't take the letter from me?"

I scoffed and stared at my arched ceiling. "You're a charming bloke. Make her take it."

He laughed and straightened the coat on him. "I can do that."

"Will you take that damn coat off? We're inside the manor."

He frowned. "I can't. It's a present from Mother. She's attached a Sticking Charm to it. Afraid I'll get cold and die."

I laughed heartily, and he shook his head in depression. "You're mother has always been overprotective."

He sighed exasperatedly. "It's because she's got nothing to do! When she's got a husband, she barely notices me. She needs to get another one soon, or I will die from all of this overbearing care she's giving me." He smirked after my chuckles died down. "So, do you think Granger will want to see you?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm sure she won't, but she never passes up an opportunity of knowledge. She'll want to know exactly why I have the Dark Mark, and why I haven't asked for help."

"Is that her biggest issue with the mark? Because you don't want help?"

I shrugged. "That's part of it, I think. I honestly don't know. Is it because she can't trust me? Is it because I didn't ask for help? Is it because I'm on the Dark side, and she's on the Light? Maybe it's all of the above."

"But you told me that you'd do anything for her."

My brow furrowed. "Yes, I'd do anything for her."

"Then if she wanted you to get help, would you do it?"

I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then shut it tight with a scowl. Blaise smirked. "Guess that's a no."

I huffed and ran a hand through my hair, scratching the back of my scalp. "I don't know about that Blaise. I can't get help. The Dark Lord trusted me to fix the cabinet and kill Dumbledore. Besides, I don't deserve help." Blaise sighed long and hard, his eyes shutting close as he fell back onto the bed and groaned. I glared at the boy. "It's true. I'm the one who got the Dark Mark. I don't deserve anyone's help."

"Mate, you were forced to get the Dark Mark. If you didn't get it, You-Know-Who would've killed your mum on the spot."

I nodded and sighed. "I know that, Blaise, but I don't want to force my burden on anyone else, especially not Granger. If she hadn't gotten so angry that night, I would be able to explain to her why I didn't want anyone to help me. I just don't think I deserve it. Whether I was forced to take the mark or not, this is a burden that I have to carry, and I don't deserve anyone's help. I've been forced to brand myself as a Death Eater, as a hated wizard, and I am forced to a life of crime and murder." I shuddered, my heart pounding as I thought of the things my wand has done. I've cast the Cruciatus Curse many times, and I've cast the Imperius Curse more times than I can count. I didn't deserve help from anyone. This was my punishment, my burden, and I needed to handle it alone.

Blaise groaned and sat up. "Draco, I think you'll get help if you ask for it."

"Okay, then what help will I get?"

He shrugged, and I threw a pillow at him. He caught it and fell back on it. "Maybe you can join the Order."

I scoffed and sneered at my friend. "I would never do that."

"Why not?"

"Because Potter and Weasley are in the Order. I'd rather be a Death Eater than be in the same group as them. Plus, I'm Draco Malfoy. I'd never be accepted into the Order."

"Not if you showed that you were a good person."

"And how would I do that?"

Blaise frowned and creased his eyebrows together, smoothing down his fur coat as he thought. "I don't know, Draco. You aren't exactly the best person. You definitely weren't the best person to Potter and Weasley."

"Just another reason I don't deserve any help."

"Maybe Granger will vouch for you."

I slapped him on the forehead, and he yelped. "Don't make me kick you out. She'd never do that. She hates me."

"Oh bloody fucking hell, Draco! You need to stop being so negative about yourself! First off, you're a fucking catch! The ladies love you, no matter how much of an ass you are. Secondly, she loves you! She might've said that she didn't love you anymore, but she was angry and hurt. She'll think about it because she's Granger, and she thinks about everything. She'll think about your letter when I give it to her because she's Granger, and she'll want to know why you have the Dark Mark. Then, she'll love you again, and you both can-"

"Live happily ever after?" I asked in mock amazement, sneering at Blaise as he smirked at me.

"No," he said. "So you can fuck like rabbits again."

I kicked him off of my bed, and he fell to the ground laughing and clutching his thigh.

"Okay, here's a serious question," Blaise announced from the floor, his laughter floating away. "Have you been taking your contraception potion?"

I blanched and made a retching noise. "Bloody hell, Zabini, of course I have! Why the fuck are you asking a personal question like that?"

"Because, from everything you've told me about you and Granger, ya'll have a lot of sex. So, what happens if she's pregnant?"

"Blaise, I doubt that Granger is pregnant."

"Well does she take her contraception potion?"

"I'm sure she does. Granger isn't stupid."

He nodded his agreement, and I leaned deeper into my pillows. "Why are you asking?"

"Because you said you'd do anything for Granger, but you wouldn't ask for help or join the Order. Now, if she was going to have your half-blood child, what would you do? If she asked you to join the Order, would you?"

I sat up and stared at my best mate as she waited for my answer. Flashes of a little brunette girl with large, gray eyes and brown freckles on her nose ran through my head, and I gasped from the ache it caused in my chest. "Yes," I whispered. "For the sake of my child, I'd join the Order."

Blaise's eyes widened. "You would?"

I nodded and leaned back on my pillows. "I love Granger that much, and if we had a child, I'd love it just as much as I love Granger. If Granger was having my child, I'd join the Order without her asking me." And that was true. I wouldn't want my child born into the life I was born into. If Granger was pregnant with my child, I'd join ask for help in a heartbeat and join the Order in the blink of an eye.

I shut my eyes, dozing off the images and laughter of a little brunette girl with a mass of frizzy curls and wide eyes of gray clouds. I was twirling her in the air, and she was squealing as she screamed for me to twirl her again, for her father to make her laugh again.

Aurora Malfoy, a little girl named after the constellation, after the Goddess of sunrise.

She'd be my sunrise.

She'd be the light that rises up and blinds me, the light that I'd follow out of the darkness.

Alright, a short Chapter 10 is finished. It's a chapter to show the love Draco has for his mother, and the love she has for him. I really wanted to showcase that instead of just talk about it because I like when Draco's mother is the apple of his eye. It shows that he has feelings too, and that he loves his mother, and this his decision to take the mark is to save her. He's really a sweet boy.

And then, with Blaise, well, it might have been to foreshadow... What do you guys think?

And Draco decides to write a letter to Hermione because, well, she's Hermione. Let's face it: Hermione is a curious little girl, and she'll be intrigued to know all of Draco's secrets and his reasoning behind the Dark Mark. Wouldn't you want to know too?

Anyways, I appreciate the love, and I even appreciate the reviews. Even though some people didn't like the last chapter, I feel like it was necessary. So anyways, thanks for the reviews, faves and follows!

Next is Chapter 11, aka Hermione's chapter, aka, the chapter in which Hermione Granger gets the letter and makes a decision to see Draco ... Or not.