13- God, I miss the screaming

Agony

Pure agony cursed inside him. Pictures were thrown across his eyes and ripped to shreds almost before he could understand what they were. Images were flowing above, around and beneath him in a vortex, flung behind his eyes so he had to watch. Dim whispers rose and fell, echoed in the vast emptiness that lay beyond. Flashes of light rammed into his view and disappeared into the swilling darkness that shrouded everything else in an ever twisting fog.

He was burning. An intense scorching pain tore through him stemming from his eyes and travelling into all parts of his body. The blood in his veins burned like liquid fire, pricking like a hundred needles into his skin. He could see nothing but pure blackness in between the pictures that somehow carried a distinctive familiarity. Dark green eyes suddenly glared through the chaos and held his entire being in a vice grip, his breath caught as cold fingers ghosted the skin of his neck. The images swirled even more violent, the vortex turning into an uncontrollable storm, the blurry whispers into a thousand roars. His breath became erratic Memories were caught, torn apart and scattered in a wild wind of fragmented pictures that didn't fit together at all.

Where was he?

What was happening?

Suddenly he was in his room holding a small object... a prefect badge...? no, it was too small. He then realized that he was not standing in his room but in the hall back home. The draperies that hung from the wall lifted and fell violently like caught in a storm, but not even the mildest of breezes was felt against his skin, nothing did, nothing but the pain that had blessedly dimmed. A tall dark-haired man stood beside him and meet the younger mans confused look with an uncaring stare. There was something dark about the other, something very wrong. By instinct he knew that this man didn't belong here.

Who was he?

Whoever that man was he had no business here, he should not be here. As if in response to that decision the room slowly turned darker, flaying in the edges like an old piece of cloth left in the dust too long. Then the world went swirling out of focus, a strange scratching noise overpowered all other sounds. Voices..? Voices rose and fell in a howling chorus, before they disappeared when he was plunged into another scene. One with smiles and laughter, someone was holding a book up to inspection. They were surrounded by glaring eyes in a sea of blackness, like a part of the scene itself had been whisked away. The people knew of the hate and saw the glares, but they were still smiling like it didn't matter. The one with the book seemed familiar, a young girl with dark hair.

Pansy...?

A terrible force flung him aside, away from the smiling memory and into a darker one. A hall... he was standing in a small dark hallway, the wall were painted in sickly grey-green colour that dripped onto the wooden floor beneath. The shadow wrapped everything in almost complete darkness… there was a door in front of him, an old battered door that seemed somehow familiar. Long pale thin lines were carved in the dark wood. The two pairs of five lines were in some places just etched into the surface but in other place they dug desperately deep...He didn't know why he was so certain, but those lines...they hadn't been there before.

Why were they here now?

A sound below the dry scratching noise alerted him to someone standing behind him. A dark figure stood at the end of the hallway, his features hidden by the darkness that surrounded him. It froze in its movements as it saw him, slowly turning and stared. An uncomfortable coldness spread through his gut when subjected to that stare. At first it did not move, simply standing there studying the creature before him. Whatever it was it was dangerous, something inside him screamed he should run.

But he couldn't

The door behind him was locked, the handle dissolved into mist-like darkness under his hand when he made a desperate reach for it. The only thing that remained firm was the dark wooden surface and the marks on it. The figure started to come closer with long threatening strides, too close. Suddenly the reason why those marks where there, were painfully obvious. His back pressed against the door, knowing that he could not get past the figure whose features was still unseen, the hall was to slim, he would never make it past.

Suddenly there was a presence beside him, the dark one with green eyes, the same from before. The presence beside him wanted to know who it was, pressuring him into going forward. But he shouldn't, he shouldn't go forward. He didn't know why but he knew he shouldn't. If he did something bad would happen.

He resisted, the pain that had receded tore to new heights. The grey eyes clenched together, pale fingers digging into his head, but he remained still and the scene slipped away before him, like fine sand yielding to a storm. Somewhere, someone was screaming, a hollow horrible sound that echoed against the walls of this nightmare, giving it physical form. Liquid blackness flowed beneath him twisting and turning like a living thing. Extensions of it stuck around his ankles with clawed fingers digging into his skin and tightened, gripping him and dragging him down.

Resist, he had to resist! He reached for everything within reach but nothing was closer enough. The fingers brushed against a cold pale object that lay limp and unresisting in the dark embrace... a hand. Belonging to someone he knew. Shock shot through him, desperately he flung himself ahead, trying to reach her but she was already gone. The icy blue eyes had looked at him once with sadness before they were swallowed up in blackness and sank beneath. He was alone in darkness.

This wasn't real, this couldn't be real.

Wake up...

He had to wake up.

WAKE UP!

Something tore apart and he was plunged into a bright cold scene and thrown to the ground. The first thing he noted was that the screaming had stopped. His heart thundered ahead in his chest, fluttering against his breast like panicking bird in a cage. He was lying on something, something cold and hard. The agonizing pain in his head was still there, but know manageable. His mouth was dry and his throat sore like he had been yelling too much too long. The grey eyes blinked and with shaking hands he pushed himself up in upright position. The floor was cold beneath his hand and he lifted his gaze to see a bare unlit room. What was this place? Why was he here?

"Impressive. It didn't think your would have the strength to do that." The cold calculating voice sounded almost bored. The tall man lazily tapped a finger on the wand he had stolen while he sent the fallen figure a condescending smile. When the grey eyes meet with green, Draco remembered everything. "If you think that was bad, then I'll have to disappoint you." Smith's tall figure stepped closer holding the wand pointed at the student. "I promise you that it will get much worse if you do not stop resisting."

The wand lifted, knowing very well what the auror would do, Draco threw his hands up in front of his face to protect himself.

"Wait! No wait! DON'T!" a tense silence dominated the room, only the blonds hectic breathing broke the silence. There had to be a way to get out of this but by Merlin he couldn't see one. Wide grey eyes meet with narrowed green ones. The Slytherin realized to his horror that not only where there no mercy in those eyes, but a sadistic smile started to blossom at the edge of the auror's lips. That bastard was enjoying this.

The blond forced his arms down and pushed himself to his feet, the heart still hammered in his chest but he didn't allow his unease to show. It was a struggle to remain standing, his legs felt numb and he couldn't force them to stop shaking, but he was not staying on the floor. The Slytherin would not give the other the satisfaction, not matter what-

No matter what he did…

The realization of his current situation hit him like a battle ram. He was locked defenceless in a room with a man that was completely insane. He wrestled his features into a complete passive shield, and spoke slowly forcing the frantic breathing under control.

"You can't do this... You can't do this do this, it is against the law." Draco had to stall, Pansy would not just leave him with this man, she would get help... she had to. He was not sure how long he had been here but he doubted it was very long. Smith had to be kept talking for as long as possible. The Slytherin did not know how many times he could manage to resist that horrible spell. He didn't even bloody know what it was! If there only was some way he could get a hold on his wand, he couldn't use his other means of defence, the 'ira', for if he used it too much would be jeopardized.

He had to get his wand, but how on earth was he supposed to accomplice that? The man before him was a trained soldier, and he was just a child. The hands shook and he tightened them into fists to make it stop, the worst thing he could do now was panic.

"Are you sure Mr. Malfoy? Certain laws have changed greatly in the last six months." Smiths smile widened lazily into a grin that showed far too many teeth. The teen backed up, his thoughts running into ten different directions, but no answer to this horrible situation came forward. His mouth opened and closed only a harsh soundless gasp broke free of his throat. There was nothing he could do, nothing he could say that would get him out of here. Not without betraying everyone. He backed up further furiously trying to come up with a response, but none came, and he was out of time. Smith took another step closer, towering over the trembling slytherin and effectively trapping Draco in a corner. "Well if you won't consider... then let's try again shall we?"

The wand lifted and once again his world was ripped apart

-[page break]-

"I can do this all day Draco."

The limp figure on the ground to which the auror spoke to didn't react. Small hollow gasps broke the silence apart from the slight continued clang of metal against stone that stemmed from one of the blonde's uncontrollably shaking hands. Draco though did not note any of this. His eyes were wide open but they did not see anything before them, occasionally the grey eyes flickered back and forth without focusing on anything other than what was happening in his head.

The world seemed surreal, like everything was encased in a thick fog, miles away and unimportant. Despite the fact that the Slytherin knew the auror had stopped his attack, memories kept flashing behind his eyes, but they were distorted, wrong. They showed him things that he knew for a fact had never happened. The false memories stitched together with the right ones, mashing together like the fractures of a forgotten dream and making a perversion. It didn't make any sense so he tried not to pay too much attention to it, but he knew he couldn't stay in his head much longer. He felt like he was losing himself in the torrent of true and fake memories. In there, he could block the world out but he dared not find relief in the chaos they created. If he stayed in there too long, he didn't think he would be able to come back.

"We can make this easy Draco... or we can make it very easy." The voice spoke again in the silence only broken by wheezing breathing. Straws of hair clung to his damp skin effectively blocking the sight of one of his eyes. Somehow that was comforting. Breathing was hard, like some heavy weight prevented him from drawing in air... perhaps he shouldn't bother. The pain had been all he could think about before, but it had finally disappeared... or he just didn't feel it anymore. A merciful numbness pervaded his entire being, overriding any other feeling. It was like being pleasantly tired after a long day, only the numbness felt too... deep, too complete.

"Either way you are not leaving the room before I am done with you." The voice did not react to being ignored, as if the creature who owned the voice expected as much. His reasons didn't really matter to the blond, as long as the man just stopped using that horrendous spell. The only good thing about hearing those demeaning words was that the bastard hadn't got what he wanted. Draco hadn't betrayed his friends.

At least not yet

The spell seemed to be one that allowed the caster access to another person's memories, but it seemed to be very unspecific. In other words, Smith could force his way in, but he only saw what Draco allowed him to see. The auror could be distracted by other unimportant memories if the blond focussed enough on them, but this would only last for a time. His concentration was slipping and so was his energy. Smith would win this fight if it continued much longer like this. They both knew that.

But he would be dammed if he gave in without a fight!

Even if it was one he would lose

The thick soles of Smith boots neared and stopped just in front of the students head. Swiftly the other kneeled down and a hand snatched out around Draco's neck, forcing his head to turn upward. "The time is up Draco, tell me now, or will get my answers by other means." The Wand was lifted in a silent threat, it was held at the ready in case Draco's answer was a refusal.

Which of course it would be

"Y-you a-are insane-e!" The blond gasped the words out in short wheezing syllables. A sneer accompanied by the harshest glare he could summon, like he was beholding something particularly vile."T-this is illegal. W-why else a-are your bu-buddies outside, and n-not here?" The student didn't care that every syllable tore like knives through his throat or that small black dots began circling the outline of his vision. He didn't care at all but for the fact the Smith self-satisfied smile was wiped off. With a jerk the wand was lifted an inch higher, the now familiar spell already at the bastards lips. Before the merest sound could escape his lips however, a loud knocking sounded from the door.

Both occupants force instantly, but for very different reasons.

Before Draco realized it his neck was released and Smith was already pulling the door open. From this distance he could barely pick up a few words here or there, but whatever news it was, it wasn't welcome judging from the look Smith's face adopted. It was a strange mix of irritation and disgust. When the deep voice ended it's report the tall green eyed auror flung the door wide open and marched out, barking a command as he went. The Slytherin couldn't hear the exact words but the finger pointed his way left no illusion about whom the inquisitor was talking about. He pushed against the ground with his trembling palms in an attempt to get up and he did, but only on his knees before he had to pause.

That bastard still has his wand.

That was the first thought that ran through his mind as one of the bulky guards heaved him onto his feet. They weren't done with him yet it seemed. Half dragged, half carried the blind soon found himself in the wide corridor that seemed unnecessary bright after all that time spent in the darkened room. Unfortunately the next thing he noticed was the fact that Smith had not yet left. He looked ahead from where the familiar sound of flinging curses originated. It sounded like at least a dozen was duelling, and violently at that. What on earth was going on? Was somebody attacking the school? Somehow he thought not, the aurors did not seem worried at all, they seemed almost… eager. But why would they do that? Who was fighting? None of those questions was answered because didn't dare to voice them out loud. He doubted he would get any answers anyway, and the last thing he wanted right now was for Smith to direct his attention back to him. Strangely a comment from the other guard to the tall inquisitor brought a smile to Smith's lips.

"Take him below. I'll finish my conversation with him later." Complying to Smith's order the tall guard tightened his grip on the prisoner. Just before they passed Smith he turned to face the blond with a bored expression dominating his features, but with a dangerous glint in his eyes. An icy shock shot through him when those eyes met with his own.

"And oh, Draco?"

"What?" The hoarse voice was not one the teenager could recognise as his own, it sounded like it belonged to somebody else.

"I would greatly suggest that you don't try to escape." Smith sounded like he discussing something particularly pleasant, the smile he sent the Slytherin was disturbingly wide, it showed far too many teeth. "You would find the consequences steep."

To be continued

Author's note

MaR , Tomatocream and Isolda, thank you for reviewing the last chapter, I really appreciate it! :)