Fractal

Chapter Eleven

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Draco grunted rather unceremoniously as he was dumped on the floor after the Death Eater roughly opened the barred door and shoved him inside. Draco landed on his side, looking up at the cloaked figure with malice. The Death Eater glared right back at him for a few moments before disappearing silently down another hallway, out of sight. There was a feminine scream of delight, then Draco found two rather feminine arms wrapped around his neck and holding him tight.

"Draco! You're ok!" Kelsey said with delight, letting him go moments later. The pale-faced Malfoy suppressed a blush, one of many he had already had in the past few days or so. He turned his body around, seeing Kelsey beaming at him from a sitting position on the floor. Saron was behind her, looking fine. He had been surprised that the Death Eaters had not taken his blood yet; or had they?

"Saron, did anyone come and..?" Draco started, but was cut off.

Yes, they came. They took blood from me. Saron said tiredly. It was then that Draco noticed how tired Saron looked; his head was hanging limply and he looked as though he would faint at any second.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, noticing the small fresh scar on Saron's neck. The unicorn nodded, finally giving in and putting his head down on the ground.

Yes, I'm fine. It didn't hurt, but I'm incredibly tired from the lack of blood. Saron explained. Kelsey watched the mental exchange with some confusion but didn't question it. She sighed, sitting on the cold floor and arranging her robes around her.

"Where did you go?" Kelsey asked, still confused as to why she still had her wand with her. She would have assumed that the Death Eaters would have taken it away from her...not that she was complaining, of course. Draco looked at her with something that looked like an expression of triumph on his face, but she couldn't really tell with all the shadows bouncing off his pale face in the terrible light.

"Voldemort sent for me. I duelled with my father...and won." He said simply, a small sly smile lighting upon his lips. Truth to be told, it felt like a million-ton rock had been lifted from his shoulders; he had proven to his father that he wasn't like him, would never be and most importantly, could beat him when on the side of good. It was a monumental day in his life if he ever had to pick one.

"What!?" Kelsey said incredulously, blinking back her surprise. Draco just smiled at her and looked around aimlessly, as if he were in a stupor. Kelsey raised a curious eyebrow; perhaps that duel had taken something from his mind...

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"Lucius, you disappoint me. Why have you not told me of your son's great ability before now?" Voldemort said icily, gently petting his huge pet snake with his bony fingers. It hissed and closed it's eyes, enjoying the attention it's master put against it.

"I-I'm sorry master, I would have told you had I only known myself....." Lucius stuttered, feeling the flush of embarrassment come to his cheeks. Voldemort raised an eyebrow; he had discarded the cloaked hood in favour of having his skin exposed to what little light there was in the cavern. His blazing crimson eyes stared right through Malfoy's very soul, or so it seemed. Lucius could feel himself involuntarily shivering, like he had done when he had first met the Dark Lord - and had pledged himself to his greatness for all eternity.

"You mean to tell me that you didn't even know your son's own powers!?" Voldemort howled, standing up and raising his hand. Immediately Lucius felt himself being lifted slightly off the ground, almost like being suspended by a huge, continuously tightening...noose. The older man's eyes bulged out and his hands went to his throat, trying to loosen the taut, rough cord around his neck that was, in fact, not there.

"Yesss....Massst-ter..." Lucius whimpered between laboured breaths, his eyes looking like they would fall out of his head in moments. Voldemort narrowed his eyes, feeling anger well up inside of his chest. How could he have let such impotence get through his ranks?

Voldemort snorted, waving his hand. Lucius came falling towards the ground and landed in a huge heap of black Death Eater robes and twisted, bruised limbs.

"You disappoint me, Lucius. I had an inkling that you were no good when you begged me to allow you to become one of my Death Eaters. No matter, though. I have someone else to serve me in a more appropriate manner than you have." Voldemort said, gesturing with his hand. Out of the shadows came another figure, though this one wasn't dressed as a Death Eater. He was dressed in the black robes of a Hogwarts student; thin, black-wire glasses sat upon his young nose and flashing green eyes stared out into space, venturing out since he hadn't been called upon to do anything. The red and gold Gryffindor patch made itself known on the breast pocket of his robes.

Lucius stared. "Master, you cannot be....!!!" He said, unable to find words to describe his shock and disbelief. "But...how did you...!?" He continued, unable to finish even his own sentences. Voldemort held up a hand and Lucius became silent.

"That is for me to know and you to keep your nose out of." He said in the fashion of an army boot camp commander. "Then my method wouldn't be very effective, would it?" Voldemort hissed. Lucius nodded dumbly.

As if he could do anything else.

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"Dumbledore! Dumbledore, sir!!!" Two Gryffindor fifth-years came running at the Headmaster as he was leaving his office; apparently they had been waiting for some time, as they had been standing against the wall talking when he had first come out. Dumbledore looked at the kids; Hermione and Ron. He sighed; if they needed help or advice, it usually meant something terrible was happening outside in the wizarding world. The past five years had been nothing short of exciting and dangerous for the trio - of which Dumbledore noticed that young Harry Potter was missing from - and it had even blown himself away that they had managed to get out of every fix imaginable.

"What is it, students? I have urgent business to attend to..." Not really, but Dumbledore was tired of dealing with frightened students. What he needed was a strong cup of black coffee, STAT.

"It's Harry, sir! He left this morning for the Forbidden Forest, hexing anyone who tried to stop him!" Ron blurted out, eyes darting back and forth. Dumbledore felt his heart stop a moment; Harry Potter? Forbidden Forest? Hexes!? Perhaps this did merit some attention...

"We tried talking to him, but his eyes were so blank! It was like he wasn't even there!!" Hermione said, sounding utterly distressed. Dumbledore knew for a fact that Hermione had something for Potter; he had five years to watch the relationship between the two, though he was increasingly believing that it was one-sided, on her part. Honestly, that Forbidden Forest was becoming a nusiance!

"Thank you, we'll look into it right away." Dumbledore said, walking off. Hermione, however, wasn't pleased with his answer.

"What!? That's it!?" She howled, following at his heels like an angry little puppy. Dumbledore stopped, suddenly becoming rather angry. He glared down at Hermione, eye twitching slightly in his fatigue and stress.

"My dear, we cannot go into the Forbidden Forest! There are about a hundred times more forces of Voldemort in there than there are qualified wizards here in the school here now! We have to investigate and get a team to come in! It's as simple as that. Trust me, I am as worried as you are about all these disappearances, but there is really nothing we can do." Dumbledore said to her truthfully. Yes, he did believe that Voldemort was on the rise because of the sheer number of Death Eaters that had reappeared around London and Hogwarts itself. No students were allowed outside anymore; it was just too risky. Ministry wizards were at every entrance and exit to Hogwarts, eyes constantly peeled with the aid of many, many cups of coffee.

Hermione's demeanor changed rather quickly. "Oh...I didn't...realize." She said softly and slowly, a blush now coming to her cheeks. Ron gently patted her back and whispered something in her ear, to which she nodded softly.

"Please, we should be going." Ron said gently, pulling Hermione away from Dumbledore. "Please tell us if you see anything, ok?" The red-haired boy said rather quickly before pulling his friend down a hallway, around a turn and out of sight. Dumbledore sighed; this was going to be a long day, and probably a long week for that matter. Suddenly that cup of coffee sounded really good...