Father of Mine, Part IX
Special Thanks to:
Archaic Raven: Seems like your Potter Muse bit quite hard since the last time mine did! I can't wait for the next part of your story, either!
Galya: I hope you like the rest of it just as much as you liked the first couple of chapters. His PoV is supposed to change.
Omniscient: I thought the whole idea behind it would intrigue you. Glad to see I was right! ^__^
Draco Malfoy N Harry Potter: Dear Reader, I wasn't insinuating that you were visually impaired in any sense at all. I wasn't sure you had seen the label or if you had, if you had forgotten it. Sorry if that came across as catty; it wasn't meant to... :*(
draca weasley: *hands you an ice pack* I hope your computer didn't leave a bruise...It would be too simple I just flat-out told you her name! Complexity is key! And would you believe me if I told you that I'm actually in Gryffindor House on a few web sites? LOL! I absolutely HATE Hufflepuff, though, I don't know why. (Sorry, CK!!) I have nothing against the people in it, cuz it's not their fault they have the qualities of a badger, but maybe because it stole my school's colours...eh. . I dunno. It just doesn't appeal to me to be a type of rodent. However, on harry potter.com, I'm in Slytherin and have no inclination of moving whatsoever.
anakas: I'm workin' on it, I'm workin' on it!! I hope this is enough to sate your appetite for now, LoL!
Cathy Gurl: Can't tell you her name just yet, but I CAN tell you Erik's last name; it's Dannen.
A/N: As I told Cathy up there *points upwards*, the Dynamic Duo's last name is Dannen. Sorry I didn't put that in somewhere, but I forgot all about working it into the conversation. It'll come up in one in here, though, never fear. And umm...there's some 'iffy' type material in here...Forewarned is forearmed. PS: This is probably going to be the longest chapter yet, too. Whew!
"To Trespass Against Us"
"Much better, Draco, you've almost got it down!" his tutor told him happily. Draco smiled back at her, a pile of silken handkerchiefs beside him instead of the tissues they started out with. Erik applauded from the other end of the table over the mountain of books surrounding him, then went back to flipping through a particularly thick volume, scribbling notes down. "Alright, now change them back."
Draco concentrated hard. In no time at all, his pile of tissues was back and the Ravenclaw smiled brightly at him. "You've got it!" she said,
"Now let's try something a little harder just to be entirely sure." She took a scrap of plain cotton out, and changed it to a piece of fine velvet. Draco admired the deep red cloth against the polished mahogany table. It looked like sunlight through a chalice of red wine. His thoughts turned abruptly back when she returned it to its original state. The Library was silent except for Erik's quill scratching across a page in his black journal and even that stopped while Draco focused on his task.
"Remember what I taught you..." she whispered to him and he nodded. He took a deep breath, remembering the quality of the velvet, the rich colour of the red and cast his spell. Celebration was cut short by a heavy-sounding thud from Erik dropping a book. Draco looked at his friend quizzically. His face had paled even more so than usual, lips with a bluish cast to them, and his eyes were glassy as he stared straight ahead, never faltering. His hands trembled slightly; it was the only part of him that moved.
"Erik...?"
Draco started to move towards him, intending to shake him awake from whatever nightmare he seemed to be having when his sister put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Don't," she said simply, gazing at her brother with an unreadable look, "Let him be." Draco cocked an eyebrow at her, but came back all the same. "What's wrong with him?" Draco asked, a bit unsure. It was awhile before she answered. "He just slips in and out of these little spells; it's nothing to be worried about."
Draco was skeptical; if it was nothing to be worried about, why was she biting her bottom lip and playing with her sleeves? "I think that we're done tutoring today...I'll send Erik along later, I want to talk to him for a bit," she said, staring intently at her brother. Draco quietly gathered up his things and left. Erik didn't even notice when he brushed by.
The Ravenclaw sat down, pressing her fingers to her mouth, waiting for his trance break. She didn't notice the three shadows in the corner whispering in cold hisses or when they got up and slithered out of the Library a minute after Draco.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next couple of weeks passed without incident and Draco realised that the high point of them was when he was with his tutor and House mate. He walked to lunch by himself today, however, Erik wasn't feeling all that well. He felt strangely alone as he sat down. Crabbe and Goyle were being kept by the Defense professor for shooting bewitched spit balls at Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot in class. Pansy was no where to be found, either. He figured listening to her whine about something was better than nothing, but after listening to the quiet murmur he decided that he liked not having her company at all. Just as he was getting up to leave, his Ravenclaw tutor hurried up to him and clutched his arm.
"What's wrong?" Draco questioned, catching her worried look. "Erik collapsed. Just before he reached the infirmary. I'm sorry to cancel today, but I have to watch over him," she explained in clipped tones. Draco's jaw dropped. "Is he alright? What happened? I knew he wasn't-" She cut him off with a shake of her head. "It's happened before, he'll be up and in classes tomorrow. It's just, well, it occurs just often enough to not be alarming, but scarcely enough to make it odd." Draco nodded slowly, trying to process it.
"I'll see you tomorrow, then. Give him my best and that I expect him to make mayhem for at least fifteen Hufflepuffs when he's recovered."
She found a smile for him and squeezed his arm gently. "I will," she promised, eyes sparkling. Then she went out of the Great Hall and he went to class.
When 4:30 rolled around, Draco had nothing to do. He didn't want to do homework just yet, either. I wonder how Professor Snape's doing... He hadn't been there in so long, he wouldn't be surprised if Snape had locked his office. Draco dashed down the corridor and through the dank dungeon passageways, hoping against hope that the door was still open. Panting, he tried the knob. It worked! He pushed the door open quietly only to be greeted by Snape slamming a book down on the desk and snapping irritably, "What is it now, Minerva? Haven't I already promised to-oh...Sorry, I thought you were someone else."
Draco stared at him. No kidding you thought I was somebody else.
"Don't just stand there lurking in the doorway, it's rude! Come in, by all means."
Draco smirked at him and pushed the door all the way open. "Having a tough time with McGonagall?" he asked playfully. Snape smirked back at him, "Haven't we all at one point or another? So....stranger, how has your life been? I'd begun to think that you'd forgotten me since you discovered a few people your own age to pester."
Draco closed the door behind him and settled into his old armchair in front of the fire and Snape sat in his usual spot. "Have you found out her name yet?" Snape asked, remembering their last conversation. Draco grimaced. "No," he said dejectedly, "She still hasn't told me and Erik won't, either." Snape thought a moment, flames reflecting darkly in his languid black eyes as he stared in the grate.
"I wonder..."
"What?"
Snape answered him by getting up and retrieving his grade book, flipping through it to the 6th years. "Erik Dannen?" he asked. Draco nodded. Snape frowned as he turned the page, perusing it for all he was worth. "What year is his sister in?"
"Mine, of course! You should know that!"
"Relax, Draco, I was just clarifying...There's no other Dannen in Slytherin sixth year."
"Well, she's in Ravenclaw, so of course she's not in Slytherin. You honestly make me wonder at times..."
"As do you, rest assured. (flip, flip, flip) Dannen...Dannen..."
Draco thought as his teacher looked for the Ravenclaw No-name. Half the fun of being with his friends was not knowing her name. It added a mysterious quality to the relationship, one that all three enjoyed.
"Ah-HA! Found her!"
"Don't tell me her name, please."
Snape looked at him, perplexed. "Don't you want to know?"
"Well, I do, but I'd rather find out from her."
"Ah. Understood. You made me go through all that work for nothing, then." Snape put the grade book back on his desk and sank wearily back into his armchair.
"How typical of a Malfoy."
"And what is that s'posed to mean, eh?"
"Oh, nothing at all...So you'd rather find out her name by gaining her trust first?"
"Makes it more interesting, don't you think, Professor?"
"Oh yes, mind games are always fun to play, especially when there is female company involved."
"You think this is all a mind game?"
"Quite so. And I think you're being foolish to play it."
"Be that as it may..."
"It's your life, Draco, I don't want to tell you how to live it."
"Alright. I'll still play her little game."
"And?"
"If I can't find out within the next month, I'll take you up on your offer and look it up in your grade book."
"Also quite typical of a Malfoy..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Draco went to breakfast alone again the next day to find Erik sitting at the table, looking pale but functional. He gave him a weak smile as he sat down across the way from him. "How're you doing, mate? Alright?" Erik nodded his response. "I'm too tired to move at the moment, but I'll live..." he said after a few minutes of silence, "How about you?" Draco said that the common room wasn't the same with out him disturbing it with his quietness. Professor Snape loomed over the table.
"Welcome back, Erik. I trust you're feeling better?"
"Quite well, sir," came the soft answer.
"Good," Snape said disinterestedly, "Draco, I just received a letter from your father that I want to discuss with you later. Come whenever you can."
Draco furrowed his brow and agreed. Snape went back to the Head Table. "What was that all about?" Erik asked. "I have no clue..." Draco replied.
***
A few days later, a school owl dropped an unmarked envelope in front of Draco. Cautiously he opened it. A small slip of parchment dropped out.
Draco ~
I have something important to tell you. Meet me at the usual tutoring table in the Library tonight at 7:30. Leave my dopey brother in the common room, he already knows what I'm going to say.
A fancy D was stamped at the bottom. Draco tucked it into his Potions notebook and put it out of his head.
***
Draco stormed into the common room at 8:30. Erik looked up, startled. Scowling, his blonde friend plopped into the chair at his table and crossed his arms in the characteristic bad humour everyone seemed to be in lately. "What happened," he sighed. Draco snapped, "You're sister stood me up, that's what!" Erik looked at him skeptically. "I don't think she would."
"Well, she did! And I have proof, too! She sent me a note this morning."
"Lemme see that..."
Draco pulled the note out of his Potions pad and shoved it across the table to his companion. He stared venomously at the black journal Erik had been writing in, willing it to catch fire. Erik started laughing coldly and tossed the piece of paper back at him. "Just what is so funny?" Draco demanded.
"That's not my sister's handwriting..."
***
The Ravenclaw walked down a deserted corridor. Torches threw weird shadows through the suits of armor lining the walls. How incredibly rude of him to do that, she thought angrily, struggling not to cry, Sending an owl to meet me then not even showing up. And in the dungeons, too! HONESTLY. She didn't notice a shadow slip behind her and start trailing. And to think I was about to tell him my name. She wiped a tear that had stubbornly fallen. Two more shadows slipped behind her. I thought I'd be able to trust-
She was thrown against the stone wall suddenly, smacking her head on the jagged stone with a sharp crack. Two beefy hands locked around her throat and a hulking, masked figure towered next to her. A pair of thinner robe-and-masks were standing in front of her. "So..." one hissed nastily, "...you thought you could weasel him away from me, didn't you?"
The Ravenclaw had a bit of trouble drawing enough air. "I don't know what you're talking about," she spat as well as she could at them. The pair of hands around her neck tightened convulsively.
"I think you do," said the mask menacingly, "You know perfectly well what I mean." A hand slithered out of the robe and pulled down the hood. Pansy Parkinson leered at her unpleasantly. "My friends and I," she gestured to the other robed figures, "felt that your trespass against us was unforgivable. And now, you Ravenclaw bitch, must pay the price for the insubordination."
"For what?" she demanded, choking slightly. "For being a whore!" Pansy snapped back, "For stealing my Draco from me!!" She could only see stars now; the meaty hands were slowly but surely crushing the life out of her. "I haven't done anything of the sort," she managed to gasp.
"Cavorting with Draco is one thing," a new voice piped up, "But then sneaking behind his back with Erik is another." This voice was even more poisonous than Pansy's had been.
"Oh yes, I see now, I'm just Slytherin's Wench, just being passed around!" she said sarcastically, clutching feebly at the hands 'round her throat.
"So she admits it! How touching..." the new voice said, equally sardonic. The new voice pulled off their mask and Blaise Zambini's cold stare pierced her to the bone. Black spots took the place of the stars as she fought to keep consciousness. "What're you going to do to me?"
"Anxious little twerp, I see," he sneered, "I like that in my women." Pansy shrieked, "NOW, Milli!" and the hands around her neck pinned her arms neatly above her head. A rush of fresh air filled her lungs, clearing her fog-logged thoughts. She kicked out at Millicent, but her captor was too strong. She was thrown to the ground on her back, arms still caught above her head. Pansy and Blaise smirked cruelly at her.
"You wouldn't," she said hatefully. Pansy responded by going to help Millicent hold her hands down. Blaise simply regarded her coolly, eyes gleaming with the predatory glee of a difficult prey finally caught. "Oh, but I would," he hissed lowly and threw himself on top of her, roughly ripping at her robes. She started screaming bloody murder and thrashed wildly. "HOLD-her-DOWN!" Blaise snapped, struggling for a hold on her hips. "AAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" she snarled, viciously rocking from side to side in the effort to throw him off. "Shut the fuck up!" he grumbled and slapped her forcefully across the mouth.
She tasted blood.
***
Erik threw his quill down again, sending emerald ink spatters all the way over to Draco's side of the table. Draco sighed and looked up, exasperated. This must have been the 50th time at least. "What?"
"It's just a feeling I have."
"Explain."
"Restless, you know? Like I'm supposed to be in a certain area."
"Oh. Did you forget to do something?"
"I don't think so."
He picked up his quill and toyed with the nib, staining his fingers bright green. Draco silently went back to work, but couldn't concentrate. Erik was upset beyond belief and he just couldn't work with that much tension nearby. He sighed, "D'you want to go walk it out of your system? I need a break anyway." Erik nodded, "I thought you'd never ask."
Together they slid out of the common room and into the hallways. After the traditional few minutes of not talking, Draco asked, "Why're you so uptight tonight?" Erik shrugged. "I dunno. Sometimes I just get the urge to go find something."
"Find something."
"Yeah, like I have to go search for what's making me so restless. Then I'll be walking around in random places or talking to K-to my sister and it goes away."
Draco frowned and sharpened his ears; Erik had almost slipped. His House mate being unable to sit still was becoming a frequent problem. Erik had already gone through 12 quills in the last week and he was genuinely worried for his friend. Erik had shown him the black journal only last night. It was filled with symbols, dreams, and visions that he'd been having for years. He and his sister had taken the task of deciphering them upon themselves. Draco thought it was the neatest thing in the world.
I'd like to kill the sonuvabitch who set me up.
"I want to know who it is too, but I'd torture them a bit before I'd take their life," Erik said nonchalantly. Draco stared at him. "Wh-What did you say?" he stammered. Erik gave him a Look. "I said I'd torture before I'd kill, why?" Draco stared at him, then replied, "Because I didn't say anything aloud."
Erik stared right back. "You didn't? I heard you say you wanted to kill whoever set you up quite distinctly."
"When?"
"Just now."
Draco stopped dead. "Whoa....back-track a second...I thought that, but I didn't say it!"
Erik closed his eyes tiredly and put a hand to his forehead. "Not again," he sighed. Before Draco could even open his mouth, Erik was already explaining. "It only happens with people who I have particularly strong bonds with. If their emotions are running high or they're stressed, I can 'hear' their thoughts...in a manner of speaking." He slumped against the wall as if he couldn't stand up any longer. "Erik...? All you alright?" Draco asked. He didn't want his friend to faint again.
"No, I'm fine. Just tired, like I said before."
"Ok..."
They walked a few more minutes in silence further into the dungeons when Erik clutched at his head again. "Aaaaah......!" he gasped. Draco pushed him against the wall, peering at him fearfully. "What? What is it? Tell me what's wrong!" he demanded. "It feels...like...my brain...can't...breathe! Oowwwwwwww..." Draco didn't know what to do. "Uh...do you just want to sit here until it goes away?" he asked uncertainly.
"I think I should go to the infirmary again. Can you go get Madam Pomfrey?" Draco nodded mutely. "Thanks."
Erik sank down into a listless heap as Draco quickly mapped out the quickest way to the hospital wing and jogged off. Passage on the left....tapestry straight ahead, turn right...three doors down...past Ravenclaw statue and another right...
Glancing left and right, he was uneasy. He wasn't particularly familiar with this part of the school. He took the right and started counting doors. Oops, too far, that was four. He found the statue that marked the Ravenclaw common room entrance and took a right. The torches flickered ominously and the armor seemed to follow his hurried footsteps. The deserted passage banked left and he nearly stumbled on something on the floor. He gasped as he caught on to the scene before him and launched himself at Blaise.
"OOOOF!!" His Ravenclaw's eyes were wide with fright and pain as she watched the two boys fighting. Pansy and Millicent had bound her hand, mouth, and foot and went to find some instrument to extend the torture. Blaise hadn't been able to get very far when Draco pounced on him, which was a very good thing. ERIK!!!! Why aren't you answering me?!? she screamed in her head. Blaise had managed to get Draco pinned and was about to cast a spell to truss him up like herself when Draco's fist shot out and caught him squarely on the nose.
Crimson blood flowed. Draco's hand hurt like the dickens, but it had gotten him free. Erik, if you can hear me, get help! NOW! Get Professor Snape!!!! His thoughts were jerked back to the fight when Blaise ripped his fingernails over his cheek. "Bastard!!" he howled. He happened to take a tiny bit of pride in his looks. After all, he was a Malfoy. By blood and by name. Blotches of liquid fire flew over the walls, the robes, and smeared across their knuckles as the boys furiously pummeled each other.
Pounding footsteps echoed down the corridor. Help at last! Draco looked up eagerly, hoping to see his Head's face, but was sadly disappointed when Pansy and Millicent arrived. Each were carrying suspicious-looking packages. Pansy's face turned an unflattering shade of purple as she saw her plan come undone. Millicent just watched dumbly. "Get him, Blaise!"
"And what is this?" a cold voice said, dangerously quiet. Everybody froze and looked up at the figure swathed in black that loomed over them. Professor Snape's eyes glittered ominously as he surveyed the tied girl, the blood, the forgotten wands, the ripped robes, and the students faces in various shades of pale. Slight panting was heard and Draco slid his eyes to look behind the dark form of his teacher to see Erik leaning against the wall, white as a ghost and breathing hard. Blaise and Draco sprang apart.
Snape walked noiselessly over to the Ravenclaw, and gazed at her for a moment, face expressionless. She shamefully turned her head to the side, tears running down her cheeks. He knelt down and pulled off his cloak, gently draping it over her. Then he cautiously unbound her mouth and hands, leaving her to release her feet. Still looking at the Ravenclaw, he said in the same dangerous voice, "All four of you, by the wall. Erik, stay where you are." All Slytherins sans Erik moved slowly towards the wall, heads hung in anticipation of punishment. Professor Snape let minor things slide in classes, but when they were caught in red-handed in the middle of nothing less of a crime, they knew they would get quite a beating.
The Ravenclaw No-name wrapped herself up in the huge black cloak, huddling into a ball on the floor. Snape stood up and faced his students. No one said a word as he glared icily at them. "What- the-hell-were-you-thinking??" he burst out suddenly, the roar echoing around the hall. A few bats skittered out, cheeping in fear from the unexpected wave of noise. The four of them cowered visibly as he berated them.
"You are all an absolute disgrace to Slytherin! Are you deliberately trying to bring dishonour to your families as well as your House? This is inexcusable!!"
"Sir..."
"SILENCE!!!!" Snape thundered, eyes flashing with dark fire, "You do not have the right to speak at this point in time!" He glared at them all in turn, arms crossed across his chest in disgust. "Blaise. Explain." Blaise kept his eyes down as he remained silent. Neither Pansy nor Millicent would speak a word, either. Snape turned to Draco, mouth set in a firm line. "You had better be able to find your voice in this mess, Malfoy, or each and everyone of you will be expelled without honours."
Draco took a shaky breath and explained that he had seen Blaise in a somewhat compromising situation and didn't think when he tackled him. He had expected Blaise to run off, but he fought back instead. Draco hadn't realised that he had tied the girl down. Snape rounded on Blaise and the boy started trembling. "Now...Zambini, you will tell me in full what you had planned, what you did and what you were planning to do if Malfoy hadn't stopped you."
Blaise licked his lips nervously. "I...well, I..." he stammered. Snape's face was truly frightening in the flickering torchlight. "You are in fact more spineless than I had initially thought if you can't even tell me what you were going to do," his teacher snapped, disdained. Blaise raised his eyes hatefully to Snape's and lost all nerve at the fathomless black boring into his own watery eyes. "I was going to rape her," he mumbled. "And why on earth would you want to do something that brainless?" Snape spat.
"Ask Pansy! She came up with the idea!" Blaise shot her a nasty look as he protested. "Really..." Snape looked at her coldly and she flinched, expecting the worst, "And I presume Bulstrode was just the henchman?" The three of them nodded uncertainly. "Learn to think for yourself, Zambini. You have a brain. Use it! And Miss Parkinson, you certainly decided to use it and I applaud your efforts." Pansy's shoulders relaxed a bit. "However..." he continued and they tightened right back up, "I do NOT approve of the way in which you decided to apply your skills. Your grade in Potions could have used that bit of sheer brilliance to bring you even relatively near passing range. Now it's your turn to justify your reasons for attempting to ruin somebody's life."
"She annoyed me," Pansy said quietly. Snape wrinkled his nose in distaste. "You find it reasonable to beat a person into submission by force simply because they annoyed you?? I expected better of you...This Ravenclaw is more Slytherin than the three of you combined! I'm sick of this nonsense and I'll leave it to the Headmaster to decide what to do with you. Since you see it fit to be cryptic and all, I have no choice. Follow me." They immediately protested.
"No!"
"You can't be serious!"
"She was stealing my boyfriend from me!" Draco scoffed at that.
"She's a Ravenclaw!!!"
"What's more, she's not even pureblood!"
"You always tell us to stand up for our beliefs and we are!"
Snape rounded on them again and silenced them in a second. "Erik, would care to explain to your fellow classmates exactly why you and Draco befriended this girl?"
Erik looked up at them and scowled. "She's as pure as any of you. I should know, because she's my sister. She's been helping Malfoy with his Transfiguration homework." All of their faces drooped with self-pity and misery as they found all of their presumptions wrong. Pansy looked exceedingly sick. "Well...now that we've told you why, we'll just be getting to bed....G'nite, Professor!" Millicent said cheerily and the three of them tried scooting by. "Just a moment...Haven't you forgotten a little detour?" Snape asked.
They turned around guiltily. "We still have to pay Dumbledore a visit..." They groaned and followed their Head of House, discouraged. "And I want you two to take her back to my office." Snape called over his shoulder. Then they were gone.
"Oh my god. Erik!!" She threw her arms around her brother and he allowed himself to hug her back for once. "I was so scared...so fucking scared!!!" Draco hung back in the shadows, unsure of what to do. She sobbed into her brother's shoulder, babbling incoherently. After awhile, the tears abated and she composed herself somewhat. Erik offered a hand to help her up, but she ignored it, determined to do it herself. Snape's long cloak dropped to the floor and the damage done to her was visible: Robes torn, red marks and angry bruises dotted her thighs, finger marks and scratches with dots of blood seeping through the shredded skin. She had a scarlet swipe across her cheek from where Blaise had slapped her and her wrists were chaffed and cracked from the ropes. Draco picked up the cape and wrapped her in it with a kind-heartedness he didn't know he had. They silently made their way back to the Dungeons.
***
A few hours later, the three of them were sitting in silence, each curled up in one of the armchairs in front of the fire in their own little worlds, staring at the dancing flames. Erik stood up, said he was going to the infirmary like he should have a loooooong time ago, and shuffled out. Draco promised not to leave until the Professor came back. The Ravenclaw didn't even notice when her brother left. A single tear dripped out of the corner of her eye. "It's okay to cry if you want...I don't mind," Draco said softly.
"I hate them," she said flatly, refusing to let any more tears come, "And to think I longed to be in their group, too." Draco was shocked. "You wanted to be in Slytherin? Oh, Hades, why?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"Make my father proud."
Draco could hardly believe it. He thought that he was the only one who cared about what their father thought about them. Then he figured that that was a rather dull-witted assumption on his part. He found himself wanting to tell her that he, too, yearned to make his father proud one day, but didn't want to go about it in the way his father wanted him to. He couldn't find the words to express it, though. He felt positively helpless.
"Slytherin isn't all it's cracked up to be, you know..." he said finally.
"I know."
"Then why-"
"-Do you know how unusual it is for a Dannen to be in any other House than Slytherin? It's about as common as a Malfoy getting into Gryffindor."
"Really."
"Horrible, isn't it?"
"Umm..."
"Father didn't give a rat's ass; as long as Erik got in, the line would be fine and still 'pure Slytherin'." She scoffed. "You might have heard he's trying to get us into the Dark Lord's circle?" Draco nodded. "Well, so far, he hasn't been able to meet with him and arrange when our initiation is. I hope it's soon."
"I know this is going to sound redundant, but why would you want to be a Death Eater? It sucks!" She threw him a sharp look. "I see," she said curtly, "I want to prove myself to Father; to show that I'm not a failure to the family. If I can raise myself up in rank in the Death Eaters, I can still bring honour to them!"
Draco felt the blood drain from his face as he heard what he used to think be spoken aloud. "And do you want to know something else?" she barreled on, anger flowing through her like poison. She was on a roll now; all the rage she had repressed was surfacing. "Because Erik and I aren't full brother and sister, Father is trying to arrange a marriage between us! A marriage!! Can you believe it?" Draco put his hand gently on her shoulder to comfort her, but she jerked away.
"Don't touch me..." she snapped, "Not just yet."
"There is a loophole that would enable you to get out of the marriage and bring a certain type of honour to your family, you know," a low voice broke in. Both students looked up to see Professor Snape standing in front of the door. "If you were to marry into a certain family of prestige and money, and one of old pure blood, you would bring a great tribute to your family...Draco, if you don't mind, I need to talk to her alone for a few moments." Draco nodded and went out into the hallway. He heard Snape's low voice sound the most gentle he had ever heard it as the teacher asked sensitive questions.
After about ten minutes, Snape opened the door and said, "If you would please take her back to Ravenclaw?"
"Sure thing, Professor."
Snape held the door for her to go through. She turned to gaze at him and said, "Do you want your cloak back? I have no need of it." He shook his head softly and said, "I'll retrieve it before breakfast in the morning. Never you mind about it."
"Thank you, sir..." and she wrapped the cloak around her more securely. Draco set off silently, waiting for her to talk. When they reached the hallway of the incident, she turned to him suddenly. "I want to see it," she said. Draco looked at her imploringly. "The Dark Mark. I want to see it," she explained. "Oh," he said, a bit uncomfortable as he rolled up his sleeve. The Mark gleamed up at them, a dull red against ashy white in the glowing torches. She lightly took his arm and brought it close to her face, inspecting it, large eyes focusing entirely. Draco looked away; the very sight of it turned his stomach.
He felt something feather-soft touch his arm and looked down to see her pressing her lips to the Mark in a chaste kiss, lashes half-obscuring her beautiful eyes. Then she looked up, locking her gaze into his steel grey one. "Do not be ashamed. For anything," she whispered intently, not blinking. "I do not feel shame, only contempt for this...this...thing on my arm," he said forcefully. She smiled at him and ignored the comment. "My knight in obsidian armor. Always coming to my rescue. I thank you," and she gave him the same kiss on his cheek, lashes brushing where Blaise had slashed, sending shivers down Draco's spine. She let go of his arm and backed into the shadows.
"And my name is Keira."
A/N: Whew!! It's finally finished!! Ok, I can NOT write action for all the money in the world...sorry for those of you who like reading good action; this ain't the place to find it, I'm sorry to say. ^__^ I'm also sorry to have it jump from one point in time to another (so choppy!!!), but it was the best way I could find how to do it. and THIS STILL IS NOT A ROMANCE! I know it seems that way right now, but it is NOT!!! AND you know her name now! Aren't you so lucky? LoL...yeeeeeeah. I'll shut up about now. I have a request from a friend at school to put Snape in bare feet somewhere in here, so maybe that'll be in the next installment, I dunno...anybody who wants to see Snape with no shoes or socks on (and quite possibly no shirt, either! ^__~) raise their hands!!