"What?"

Narcissa Malfoy had just spoken up as her and her husband stared at both versions of their son. Draco's mind was spinning. What was this? Was it time travel, a new confusing spell? Or was it...

"Oh please," said the second Draco in a drawling voice. There was something extremely strange about hearing that tone coming from his own mouth. Was he really that annoying when he spoke? "Have you never heard of Polyjuice potion?"

All three of the Malfoys backed away and lifted their wands.

"Who are you?" spat Narcissa.

"And you think you'd recognize an ally when you saw one," snickered the imposter. "I'm Severus Snape, who else did you think would whip up such a potion and dress up as Draco?"

"Prove it." Narcissa snapped back at him, still pointing her wand straight at the other Draco's chest.

The intruder took a step forward and stretched his hand out as if he were requesting a handshake. The Malfoys stared at it suspiciously, as the only woman in the room lifted her arm. She grabbed a hold of the other Draco's hand, and suddenly their joined forearms started to glow with a soft, amber light. From their tips slowly emerged lines that started to wrap themselves up both peoples forearms like barbwire. Those were proof of a deep magic.

"The Unbreakable Vow." whispered Draco to himself.

Narcissa gave a sigh of relief as she let go of Severus and the magical signs disappeared under their skin again.

"Draco," said his doppelganger as he turned to him. "You look terrible."

Draco sighed, realizing that he really was hateful when he spoke so casually. What a change it was to understand why Hermione was so disgusted by him most of the time.

"What is the meaning of this Severus?" interrupted Narcissa as she finally lowered her wand. Severus Snape snickered.

"I'm saving your lives, dear. Your stupid plan Draco is bound to go to the dogs. The moment you apparated here I knew it was time."

"Time for what?" replied Draco anxiously; trying to ignore the fact that he'd never heard his potions master say so many words in one breath. His doppelganger drove a pair of metal coloured eyes into his.

"Time for you to disappear."

Draco strode past a group of Death Eaters who were fighting about whether or not the situation was bad enough to call the 'Dark Lord' back. Without a glance at them, the blond wizard delved further into the huge mansion, lost in thought.

"It is time for you to disappear Draco. You have outgrown your use here. I cannot help you anymore, and The Dark Lord suspects there is a spy within his close followers. The only way to remedy this, whilst giving Potter and his friends a chance to get away, and without risking my cover being blown for the Order, is for you to openly betray them."

Draco simply stared at him as though he had gone insane. What?! This place was packed with Death Eaters, he had no chance of surviving if he started turning against them!

"You have no other choice Draco." continued Snape. "Narcissa, Lucius, I'm afraid you'll also both have to go into hiding. Your time is drawing near anyways; the Dark Lord is planning an attempt on both your lives. This is the only chance all three of you have of escaping the Dark Lord alive."

Silence fell on the Malfoys. They all knew their place in the war was unstable, but this was too soon...

"We'll do it."

"Draco!" breathed Narcissa in despair.

He pushed a set of huge wooden doors open and strode into yet another dining room. From there he opened another set of tall, carved wooden doors and closed them behind him. With a flick of his wand all the magical lamps turned on. This room was strange and fascinating. His father must have once sought to make it his office, as a huge dark wooden desk throned as the centrepiece of the room. The entire three of the walls were covered in books, most of them being about politics or the importance of power. It would have been difficult to find a room in this house which described the Malfoy stereotype better than this one.

Draco walked over to the wall behind the desk, the one not covered in tall bookshelves. Instead, it displayed a long, glass cupboard which held some of the jewels of the Malfoys' armoury. From golden swords to engraved bows and knives, the collection was precious enough to be under high protection. No one but a Malfoy could walk into the room without being struck with the Cruciatus curse. Manage to touch the glass, and you were petrified on the spot.

Draco reached out and slid the glass doors open. He grabbed a dagger the size of his forearm and weighed it. It was a bronze weapon with five runes engraved on the blade. From what he knew from his childhood stories, Draco guessed it must be the blade one of his ancestors had used to slay a hydra. Although those disgusting creatures had disappeared from the world, the blade had remained embedded with the poisonous blood of the monster it had slain, the magical bronze absorbing it. How his ancestor had killed such a mythical creature with such a small weapon was a complete mystery, but know was certainly not the moment to ponder on it, although no doubt would Hermione try to pierce its secrets as soon as she even set eyes on it. He smiled lightly. When had he come to admire that about her? If someone had told him the little Gryffindor know-it-all he loathed so much in school would one day be his only ally and friend, he would have laughed at them, and yet here they were.

He closed the cabinet, put the dagger under a protective spell and then slid it under his belt under his robes. He was just about to leave the room when he heard a door slam shut. Silently, he moved over to the door to the office and peaked through the crack between the doors. He froze as he recognised his aunt Bellatrix. She was gripping a man in long black robes by the collar; her wand jabbed into his throat.

"I thought you said the Manor was unbreachable." she hissed.

The man in front other looked extremely worried as he tried to articulate something. He should be, Draco thought. He wouldn't want to be on the bad of his aunt's wand either, especially just after she had lost the Golden Trio.

"It is, someone must have let them in." he croaked in fear.

He fell to the marble floor as Bellatrix pushed him back furiously.

"WHO?!" she all but screamed at him.

"The only person who wasn't at the meeting this morning was Draco Malfoy, it must have been him!" winged the man as Draco gritted his teeth. The man was disgusting. "I protected the Manor well" he carried on, "as you ordered. They can only have come in if someone let them in..."

"HOW do I find them?!" she screamed back at him.

"I... I don't know, I..." he stuttered as she growled. "I really don't..."

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A bright green shot of light lit up the room for a second. When it receded, Draco peeked through the crack again. All he could see was a pair of feet sprawled on the floor, and his aunt was standing next to the cadaver as if it weren't even there. She whipped her head around as Draco heard a door creak open.

"What is it?" she hissed at the intruder.

"The alarm in the dungeon was triggered Ma'am" said a young man's voice. "We think it's the Potter boy and his friends."

The look on Bellatrix's face suddenly changed, her eyes filled with greed.

"Good, gather everyone." She answered as a twisted smile crept onto her face. She strode out of view, and just as the door was about to close, she added: "Oh and spread the word: if anyone sees my nephew, kill him. I don't like traitors."

The door slammed shut again, and Draco came out of the office carefully. He tried not to look at the dead man in a room he used to love as a child, and walked over to the front door, trying not to think about how bad his situation was. It was going to be difficult to get out of this one alive. Snape had been right after all, no one trusted him here. No one but Hermione.

Suddenly overtaken with the urge to see her, he swung the door open and strode into the corridor. It was deserted, just like the next one and the one after that. Draco was running through the empty house now, slowing down at each corner to check for signs of life before sprinting away again. Where was she? She was the only one who had actually seen him for who he was. Against all odds, she had been the one to trust him, going as far as to trust him with her life as she followed him to this damned place. And he sure as hell wasn't going to let anyone hurt her, not after he'd finally found a friend to share his challenges with. Merlin no.

He was going down a very familiar corridor as he heard voices. He sprinted forward and dove into a familiar room. He shut the door just as the group of Death Eaters made their way into the corridor. He listened intensely as the footsteps got closer. They suddenly stopped right in front of the door, and Draco looked around the room desperately. He knew it well, knew every cauldron that was slumped in the corners, every potion that rested in jars along the walls. He ran over to the only hiding place he could think of. He pulled the door to his walk-in cupboard open and shut it just as the main entrance opened.

He peered through the keyhole as eleven men and women walked into the room. They sat down at the table in the centre of the room and pulled out many parchments and quills. What were they doing here of all places?

Draco stood up again and froze as a voice whispered from behind him.

"You?!"

So this chapter isn't that exciting I suppose, but the original chapter was about 8000 words long and still missing a central part, so I had to cut it here ^^

Next chapter'll be up soon hopefully :)

Review please? xx