Year 6 at Hogwarts and there have been some major changes. Voices in their heads. Memories missing. And a Dumbledore that wasn't so great after all. The forces of the dark are closing in and they need the help of an ancient group to win this war. From the Slytherin perspective.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Never had Draco seen so many people beg for a single person's life! Then the Dark Lord smiled! Draco, to this day, can't even properly describe the damn bone-chilling smile! He actually fainted from how heavy the Dark waves got!

But enough of that! Wanting to be distracted from this craziness, Draco glanced at his large trunk and tsked.

"That's going to be heavy to carry," he said with a small smile.

Narcissa gave him a sad smile and engulfed him in a hug once more before snapping her fingers to summon a random house elf.

"Now let's get you to Platform 9 and 3/4, Draco."

HPHPHP

Chapter Two: "Being Abstruse"

Sunday, September 1, 1996.

~On the Hogwarts Express~

"I don't know why your father is putting you through this," Pansy Parkinson complained softly.

Draco Malfoy stared out the train window, refusing to answer. He wasn't in the mood to tell her that such was not the case. His father was in Azkaban, and therefore, had no means of making him do anything he didn't want to. While Pansy did know this, she had assumed that it had been Lucius Malfoy's intention to have Draco become a Young Death Eater. Oh, how wrong she was! It was actually aunt Bellatrix who wanted Draco to be a YDE back in his fifth-year. However, Draco's mother had harshly refused. Narcissa even went as far as to threatening to sever all ties with the Black family. As crazy and cruel as his aunt was, she did not want to lose contact with her youngest sister and gave up on the idea of having Draco join the Young Death Eaters.

It was all for naught.

At the start of the summer holiday, when the Dark Lord chose him to replace his father, Bellatrix was quite happy. Draco figured that in that woman's mind, she must have thought, 'Since it was the Dark Lord who commanded my nephew to join, Narcissa cannot sever contact with me!'

It turned out that the crazy bat was right, his mother didn't sever contact. That didn't stop his mother from giving aunt Bellatrix a hard time whenever the two were together. Draco had to admit that his mother acted childishly, but he didn't mind. He found it very amusing to see Bellatrix storm out of the room after being annoyed the hell out by Narcissa! That was definitely one of the things he enjoyed seeing during his summer. Usually, Bellatrix would Crucio anyone who did that, but it seemed like his mother was an exception to that.

"Draaacoooo!" Pansy whined, pulling him out of his thoughts.

She started nudging him with her foot under the table. Draco had to put his tongue between his molars to keep from yelling at her. He moved his feet out of her kicking range and shifted in his seat to be in a more comfortable position. Draco pointedly refused to give in and look at her.

"Stubborn Draconian."

Draco resisted the urge to groan. Even when the bird was in a different section of the train, it still managed to annoy him.

"Shut up, Oblem."

"If you wanted a quiet owl, you should've brought Bubo."

"Are you saying that Bubo is a more disciplined owl than you are?"

"No! He's just boring!"

"Fair point, but I want peace and quiet right now."

"I'm lonely."

"Go 'Hoot' Theodore's ears off or something."

"Who?"

"Theodore Nott."

"Who?"

"Um, Theo."

"Who?"

"You-"

Draco paused as he realized what the bloody owl was doing. He pointedly glared at the bird in his mind, knowing it would be conveyed through their telepathic bond.

"I hate you, you know."

"Love you too, Draconian!"

The bond went silent after that, though he knew Oblem was still listening to his thoughts.

When Draco was a child, he had been unnerved by how easily his familiar could access his mind. Now, he wasn't, because, Draco could also access Oblem's mind. Both of them can share information with the other through their bond and not even say a word. It was proven very beneficial whenever Oblem was set free to roam the Hogwarts castle or Malfoy Manor. Draco's familiar always heard some form of information that proved useful to him, and the informer was none the wiser. No one suspects that an owl is listening to conversation, so thy speak freely. It's a win - win situation.

Well, the only persons who would suspect would either be paranoid or pure-blood. Blaise had an owl like his, as did several others in Slytherin and a few in other houses.

Draco's attention was caught by the sudden itch on his cheek.

'Seriously?'

His best mate, Blaise Zabini, was staring at him. It was the sort of sixth sense one would develop after spending time around the keen male. After all, everyone knew how observant Blaise was. Draco always found it entertaining to watch others squirm under the Italian's intense gaze. However, it was equally (or more so) annoying to be on the receiving end. He rubbed his thumb over his cheek, a bit irritated by the itch. He still refused to talk to either of them. Draco was aware that he was acting immature, but he didn't care. If he didn't want to talk, then he wasn't going to talk. They couldn't force him to.

Pansy and Blaise were sitting across from him in one of the four-seater table areas outside of the usual train compartments. A different train carriage had been installed this year because there were complaints of not enough space. The first-years that arrived last September were the biggest group to ever come to Hogwarts, Seventy-six. Another train carriage had to be added so that there would be enough space for both them and the incoming First-years. This made the Hogwarts Express a five-carriage train now.

The students of Slytherin had captured this carriage as a part of their territory since technically they had the largest amount of members. After all, twenty-four of the seventy-six new students were sorted into Slytherin last year. At first, Draco thought the Slytherins were warding off the other students with their mere presence. But, after a while, he realized that it didn't stop the Hufflepuffs and the occasional Ravenclaws from visiting and even staying there. Many students may not believe it, but Slytherins were capable of making friends/getting along with students from other houses. Gryffindors were just damn annoying!

"Dra–" Pansy started to say, but was interrupted.

"Is Malfoy still refusing to talk?" someone asked from behind Draco.

He turned around, startled, then glared up at Emma Vane. She was clad in a stylish (fitted) mink coat that fell off her shoulder and rested on the crook of her arms. It was done to show off her sweetheart neckline top and collarbone, and not so much her decent sized breasts. Draco found his eyes drawn to it twice before he took in the rest of her. She stood with her hands on her hip, posture sexy— not that he minded.

"It seems you are. " She spoke in a leveled tone, giving away nothing.

Vane held her chin up so that she could look down her nose at him. He held her gaze as she stared at him with a look of indifference. Draco was not going to sit and watch her speak to him like he was some misbehaving child.

"It seems you aren't? I must be blind then to the way you've been avoiding Vaisey." He said in a satirical tone.

Vane's left eye twitched. She clearly did not contemplate the possibility of him answering her. That didn't stop her from replying in a deride tone.

"I have nothing to hide."

Draco hummed, finding her jab at him being branded with the Dark Mark unworthy of a worded reply. Vane was a Young Death Eater like he was.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you do."

They both turned to Pansy whose arms were folded and a mocking smile on her face. Draco knew that look. He'd been on the receiving end many times in the past. Pansy knew something, oh, she knew! Vane hissed and glared at her. All the more for Draco to believe Pansy had something over her.

"Greetings, Vain one." Pansy said cheerfully.

Draco turned his face away from Vane's sight. Pansy's smile was positively guileless! He was fighting a smile on his lips, not wanting to encourage his best friend to continue insult Vane. Draco briefly remembered that Pansy had told him once that he looked constipated while fighting a smile. Blaise remained quiet, but there was no hiding that small smile on the corner of his lips.

Vane gave a tight lipped smile. "Greetings, Parkinson." She turned to Blaise and the smile softened along with her something in her voice. "Saluti, Blaise."

Blaise rose a perfect eyebrow, then nodded with a tilt of his head. Vane took that as an invitation to take the seat beside Draco, much to his annoyance.

"Come stai oggi? (How are you doing today?)" Vane asked. Her elbow was on the table with her hand under her chin. Her eyes were trained solely on Blaise.

Draco rolled his eyes. "We're all fine today. Now, leave, Wind Vane."

Pansy took that as her cue to move closer to Blaise. Going along with it, Blaise met her halfway and gracefully put his arm around her shoulder. The innocent look on his face made Draco's back ached and stomach hurt from holding in his laughter. Blaise moved in such a natural way that you'd think he did it unconsciously. Vane scowled and narrowed her eyes at them. She turned her attention back to Draco, a taunting look in her eyes.

"Afraid I'll tell your secret?"

He smirked. "They already know. After all, I got special permission."

She glared at him. An important thing to know about Emma Vane was that she hated when someone was favoured over her. That was made quite obvious when she constantly dueled with him during the YDE program. Sometimes, the Dark Lord offered to oversee the dues, and all of those times, he blatantly favoured him. The scaly bastard would comment on all of their spells, telling them if they needed to improve or not, if he liked how they fought or not. Always, the Dark Lord said he liked Draco dueling over hers.

Of course, this made Vane very upset every time, but Draco knew she valued her life so she shut up about it. That didn't mean she was any less deluded to think that being a favourite of the Dark Lord translated to privileges. Sure, Draco avoided a lot of things by being favoured, but it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. He has to work twice as hard as everyone else, and if he did something wrong, he'd get Crucio'd full force! Draco lost count of the amount of Nerve Repairing Potions he consumed per week during his summer. The other Young Death Eaters only got the Cruciatus Curse with 5% of the Dark Lord's power behind it.

See if Emma Vane will want it then!

Vane gave him a cold smile and hissed quietly. "I look forward to seeing you crumble!" Then she got up and left.

Pansy glared at her retreating figure. "Can I hex her?" She mocked Vane's way of speaking.

"No." Blaise finally spoke.

"Why not? She's a bi—"

Draco tuned them out. He knew Pansy never liked her. The two girls might have spent the late five years sleeping next to each other, but they despised each other. Understandable, since Vane was an antagonistic person, more so than Draco was. She just hid it well and picked on select students, like Muggle-borns or Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs—

"Or combinations of both."

Draco shook his head and returned to staring out the window. Leave it to Oblem to interject his thoughts like that. 'Abrupt and Unannounced' should have been his name.

"Now, that's just mean! Here I am, so lonely!"

"What happened to hooting Theo's ears off?"

"Nott got tired of my hooting and Silencio'd me!"

The young Malfoy coughed into the back of his hand to cover up his snicker and smile. He knew Pansy and Blaise would give him strange looks, but he didn't care at the moment. Draco really appreciated the fact that Oblem always knew what to say to make him laugh whenever he was upset.

"Serve's you right!"

Oblem let out a startled birdy sound that was the equivalent of a human's gasp.

"How could you!"

"I'm a Malfoy! I do want!"

"Once a brat, always a brat!"

Draco chuckled in his mind. There was silence, for a moment, in the bond. Draco allowed himself to focus on what was before him outside the train. Since he boarded, he had stared out the window, unfocused and unattached. Now, he was still staring out the window, but he was watching clouds slowly glide across the afternoon sky. Draco found that the dirt and sand of the barren land outside was more interesting than the insides of the train.

He'd been cooped up inside a dark fortress aka Malfoy Manor during his summer, barely going outside. Draco didn't see the moon, much less the sun whenever he got the chance to. It made him realize just how much he took the outside world for granted. That thought turned Draco's attention towards his skin colour. He looked down at his hands and frowned at how pale he had gotten from lack of sunlight. Draco could see the outlines of his veins under his skin, reminding him of how little he ate during his Young Death Eater sessions. Anyone who stared at him long enough would realize that there was also a ghoulish look on his skin.

Draco didn't like it one bit.

Feeling the sudden urge to talk to someone, he called for his familiar through the bond.

"Oblem?"

"Yes, Draconian?"

"Are you... willing to listen to me just... talk?"

"Draco."

"What?"

"I'm only an owl. I cannot properly understand human emotions. Not even with twelve years of being in your mind."

"That doesn't mat–"

"Why do you refuse to talk to your friends?"

Draco went silent. He wanted to talk to them. He wanted to release all these feelings he's kept inside! But would they care? Draco was being stupid, of course they would care! They were his best friends after all.

But...

His summer wasn't something one would share. It wasn't good. Lucius being in Azkaban was not good. Voldemort staying at his home was definitely not good! Draco still questioned his mental state and desperately wanted his mother here! Above all things, he was not good!

Why should he bother them with his problems? It wasn't worth telling them. He'd just be a nuisance to them.

"I don't want to."

"Why?"

"They don't understand."

"Don't or won't?"

Draco's eyes wondered back to the window.

"They won't understand."

"And you think they'll understand if you say nothing?"

"Blaise can."

"Not when you're being so abstruse!"

Oblem had flapped his wings in annoyance. Draco grit his teeth to avoid growling out loud.

"I don't want to!"

"Draco!"

"SHUT UP! I'M JUST GOING TO BE A BOTHER! I DON'T WANT TO TELL THEM! I DON'T WANT THEM TO PITY ME! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! ALL YOU DO IS ANNOY AND ANNOY AND ANNOY ME! LEARN TO SHUT UP"

The emotional pain that flowed down the bond made Draco physically slump his shoulders. He had wanted to release all of his pent up anger and frustration. It had only been about an hour and half since his tantrum in his bedroom, but Draco felt better now. He just didn't think he'd let it go on–

It finally registered to Draco that his emotional pain wasn't the only one flowing in the bond. Oblem was hurt from his words. His throat suddenly felt dry and his blood ran cold. Draco tried to apologize.

"Hey, Oblem. I–"

Oblem shut his side of the bond. Draco closed his eyes then blinked furiously to stop the tears that threatened to spill. All Oblem wanted to do was help, that's all he ever did! And what did Draco do?! Shout at him, be rude to him, throw things at him whenever he got upset!

He was horrible owner!

Draco folded his arms on top of the table and hid his face in them.

HPHPHP

The sudden surge of sound roused Draco from his sleep. There was a presence in his mind that he subconsciously knew was Oblem. What he also knew was that his familiar wouldn't talk to him until they were alone inside the Owlery tonight. Draco reached out a hand in his mind and stroked Oblem. The owl shook his feathers, but didn't move. He sighed, relieved that his familiar would at least let him comfort him this way.

It took a while for Draco to draw himself fully out of sleep. When he was certain he didn't look like a zombie, he lifted his head, still subconsciously stroking Oblem's feathers. He was still laying on the table, but there was a cloak draped over him. From the smell, one he's known for five years now, Draco knew it was Blaise's school cloak. The faint scent of parchment and the Italian's "Acqua di Giò" perfume by Half-blood Giorgio Armani told him so.

He pushed the hood off of his head and took in his surroundings. Pansy was still sitting across from him, but she wasn't looking at him. Instead, she was turned sideways in the seat talking to someone behind her. It took a while for Draco to realise that Pansy and his cheery dorm-mate, Mirth Cleveland, had struck up a conversation. He frowned when Pansy laughed at something he said.

"Wait a minute..." he mumbled to himself.

The space beside Pansy was empty, as was the one beside Draco. Maybe Blaise got up to talk to someone? Draco looked around the train carriage, then frowned when he didn't see his best mate. The clearing of a throat brought his attention to the four sitting at the table area beside from his. Someone passed between the tables, heading down the small walkway towards someone near the carriage door. He looked back and saw Gregory Goyle staring at him.

"What?" Draco asked.

This caught the Greengrass sisters' attention. They were sitting across from Goyle and Crabbe. Vincent Crabbe was staring out the window, unaware of those inside the train. Draco thought he knew how Crabbe was feeling right now. His 'henchman' was among the few unfortunate Young Death Eaters who was never allowed outside, because they weren't at the level of competency that the Dark Lord wanted them to be. Proof of that was how much paler Crabbe was than Goyle. Draco had to ask Uncle Severus to make them a Vitamin D infused powder to put on their food. A Durmstrang fifth-year, Raisa Ashe, fainted too much for him to be unconcerned.

"Blaise was given a scroll of parchment tied with violet ribbon by a third-year," Goyle said, interrupting his thought.

Oblem perked up at this through their bond as if he knew what was happening. Draco sent a silent question, but his owl turned its back at him, refusing to talk. Draco focused on Goyle instead.

"What was it for?" He didn't ask if it had spell or curses on it. Knowing Blaise, the Italian would've checked about three times before finally touching the scroll.

"He got 'formally'—," Gregory rolled his eyes at that. "—invited to join a Professor H. E. F. Slughorn for lunch in compartment C."

There was a spark of something in the back of Draco's mind. He knew this person. Father had told him about that man probably more than five times for him to remember.

"It clicked. "Do you mean Professor Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn? As in the guy who was once the Head of Slytherin and Potions Master back in Lizard's days at Hogwarts?"

Gregory's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose at that. Lizard was the code word for the Dark Lord. All YDE were commanded to use it. If they used his self-appointed name or title, the Dark Mark would burn, hotter than it does whenever they were being summoned. Almost immediately, Crabbe turned to look at them. He didn't say anything, but there was the question burning in his eyes.

"Who's Lizard?" Astoria Greengrass asked, diverting their attention to her.

Of course, the Greengrass family had no allegiance to the Light, but they weren't a Dark family either, nor were they nuetral. Whatever they were, Draco didn't care. All that mattered was that she heard, and she must forget.

"My grandfather," Crabbe said without hesitation.

That made Goyle pause from discreetly taking out his wand. Draco knew he had the intention to Obliviate her, but someone, most likely her older sister Daphne, would see and raise an alarm. That would mean unwanted attention their way. Thankfully, Crabbe was quick to reply in a way that wasn't suspicious.

Astoria seemed to dwell on it, then nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. You hate Elder Crabbe. Also, I know about him."

Draco rose an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Our grandfathers, paternal grandmother, father and estranged aunt were 'collected' by him when they went to Hogwarts. Professor Slughorn was quite the person since even mother knows him, and she went to Beauxbatons."

"Oh." He could only say.

Draco momentarily forgot that he and the YDE weren't the only persons whose parents and relatives went to Hogwarts. That meant they also knew of the man. There were other pure-bloods who met the man. Oblem tickled the back of his mind, as if to say "Shame, shame, shame." and was shaking its head at him. Draco just rolled his eyes at the owl through the bond.

"So, when will he come back?" Draco looked at his watch. "It's thirty-two past two."

Gregory tilted his head to the side at little, thinking, then he checked his watch.

"Well, he's been gone since half past one, so—" He looked up at Draco. "—he should be back in the next fifteen minutes."

Draco nodded and leaned back in his seat. He folded Blaise's cloak and rested it on the table. He was a little bummed out that he wasn't invited, but that doesn't matter. Blaise would return and tell him all about it. With that thought, Draco leaned against the window again and stared out it.

" ...ith Malfoy's father in Azkaban! And with You-Know-Who's return... But! It's none of my business. I just wish Malfoy would stop sulking. He'll take out his grumpiness on me..."

Draco had managed to catch the ending of whatever Cleveland was saying, and he did not like it that Cleveland was talking about him. He tore his gaze from the window and glared at his crude dorm-mate. He watched as Cleveland blushed crimson and began to stammer.

"O-oh! H-hey, Malfoy!"

The idiot realized that Draco had heard him, and was now trying to find an excuse for discussing his grumpiness (with his best friend) right in front of him.

"I was just wondering why you were... were... " he said, his hands up in surrender. Cleveland turned to Daphne. "Um, Greengrass? Help?"

Daphne Greengrass scoffed and pretended she didn't hear him. When Cleveland turned to Pansy, she looked up at the ceiling as if it was the most fascinating thing she ever saw. Did he really expect them to come to his rescue when Draco was in a bad mood and Cleveland so blatantly talked about Draco while he was there? Was Cleveland dumber than he thought he was?