"Wake up!" Lucius Malfoy grabbed his son's sheets and ripped them off the
bed and teen.
Draco moaned then sat up in sudden clarity, "Father. Has the Dark Lord called you?" he started to move, dressing quickly as his father stood waiting.
"Indeed he has. And he wants you to come," Lucius looked over his son's form, "You're getting heavy boy."
Draco risked a glance at his body. He was five foot nine and a hundred fifty pounds. You could count his ribs, "Yes Father," inside his sneered at the man. Malfoy's were known for their blond hair, silver eyes and slender bodies. Lucius took that to the extreme though.
"Come on boy," Draco walked quickly behind his father, cursing silently at Voldemort. When they reached the foyer Lucius grabbed Draco's arm and apperated. Draco refused to wince from his fathers grasp.
"Ah, my loyal Malfoy's. So your son is ready is he?" Voldemort glided forward, his snake-like appearance slightly disturbing when added to his hissing voice.
Lucius tugged Draco down to his knees with him, "Yes my Lord." the elder Malfoy leaned forward and brushed the hem of his master's robe.
Voldemort sneered; "So you think." he turned to the younger blond and smiled. It was vaguely creepy to look into the came of the magical world to find him smiling, "And you boy, do you think you are ready to serve me?"
Draco suppressed a shiver of fear and nodded, "Anything for you my Lord."
Severus Snape watched form his corner of the gathered Death Eaters and winced when Draco's arm was grabbed and stretched out.
The scream that could be heard by all ran into the listeners bones, pain of the most incredible kind. They had all felt the sting of the same pain in their seventeenth year of life. That was when all Death Eaters were branded with the Dark Lords Mark.
Voldemort sighed in satisfaction. He loved to create pain in any way possible. It was his vice, "So now you all see that a loyal Death Eater is made. Now it is time to see a loyal Death Eater killed," he monster, no longer a man, spun on air and pointed his wand at an unknown Death Eater, and just for the fun of it used the worst of all the unforgivables, "Avada Kedavera!"
Draco's eyes widened in horror as most of the Death Eaters joined their master in his laughter, before the body had even his the ground. ~That could have been anyone. That could be me in the future.~ Draco swallowed the bile in the back of his mouth. It would not do to throw up at his first meeting.
~*~
Several hours later found Draco sitting in the potions room across for his professor, Severus Snape.
"Sir. I, I can't. That man, the one that was killed. Do you know who he was?" Tear streaks marred the boy's perfect features.
Severus sighed, "I did. His name was Mural Barton. He was in the same year as me when we went to Hogwarts. I had tutored him in potions for four years. He has three children, two of them are enrolled in Hogwarts right now, his eldest child, Taraway, is a fifth year. She's in Ravenclaw," Severus sighed again then looked into his students face, "Draco. Are you loyal to him or are you having second and third doubts?"
Draco looked into Severus' eyes and blinked, "I had those thoughts for the last seven years. I don't think that I could be loyal to him, not after what he's showed his capable of."
"That's good. Slytherin's were never meant to be evil, just sly and cunning. Ambitious," Severus leaned forward and looked intently at the boy across from him, "Are you going to openly defy Voldemort and your father or are you going to do it discretely. Or maybe you'll learn to live with the murders and torturing that you see."
Draco stood up and spun on his heel, "I will never defy my Lord. And you would do well to tell him that Severus. I will never spy or defy. Take my word on that," the door slammed loudly and the fading footsteps broke Severus' heart. The boy was a Death Eater. He would always be.
~*~
"Malfoy! Mal-Draco!" Harry ran up to the teen that was storming through the corridors.
Draco put a sneer on his face and stopped abruptly, causing the boy chasing him to bump into him lightly, "What do you want Potter?"
Harry looked at Draco and caught his breath, hunched over a bit. He breathed deep and stood tall, "Draco, I overheard some of your conversation with Snape. Are you a true Death Eater? I mean, hell Draco! I've known you for seven years and though you may be a git to everyone I don't think that you would be able to become a Death Eater with your conscience intact."
Draco blinked blankly at the smaller teen. ~ I wonder why he's so small. ~ the sudden thought intruded and he shook it from his head. Where the hell did that come from? Anyway. "What do you mean Potter?" ~Potter is a good guy. He knows nothing about Death Eaters! ~
Harry let his mask go and Draco took a startled step back. The-Boy-Who- Lived looked tired. Beyond tired, he looked like he was about to fall over. There was pain in his eyes and he slouched a bit more then a normal person, "I know. I know everything about the Death Eaters. I have to watch them doing thing to people, to feel their pain when Voldemort tortures them. I know what happens to them," Draco stared at him in horror, "The scar that he gave me that night sixteen years ago sealed our fates together and our souls. I see what he does. And if he slept, he would see what I do."
Draco swallowed. If he trusted Harry... If he trusted this boy with his life, what would he do with it? "What did you want to talk to me about Potter? I hole you don't expect me to..."
"Shut up. Just shut up and listen for a minute will you?" Harry poked Draco's chest, "I know that you don't really want to be a Death Eater and I know that you have no other choice. But listen... You could help us win. You could help us in a most important way. I know that you can't trust Snape right now with your decisions, but you can trust me," Harry laughed mockingly, "After all, everyone is rallying behind me on the 'good' side of the war..."
Draco cocked his head to the side, "You know, you're right. Who better to trust but the Boy-Who-Lived?" Harry flushed slightly, "Okay Potter, what do you want me to do to help the 'good' side of the war?"
"Spy for us."
"If you heard the conversation that Snape and I had then you wouldn't be asking that question. I do not want to die a horrible death..."
"You won't have to. I know several spies who have been spying ever since Voldemort rose up twenty years ago," Harry smirk and gestured for the two of them to walk while they talked, "If you're smart enough, cunning enough and will to take a little pain you can become one of the best spies unknown," Draco opened his mouth, "No, I don't want you to tell me that you've thought about spying and you're not going to I want you to think of all the people who are in hospitals and care centres because someone wasn't spying, because someone wasn't there to give valuable information to the right people."
Draco's shoulders slumped and he slowed, "You know Potter, you're right. Damn it, you're right," he sighed and Harry looked over to him, "I just can't become a spy though... I need a really good reason..."
"How about that fact that when Voldemort is gone and you aren't dead, you won't be put into Azkaban or given the Dementor's Kiss. I would testify your involvement to the war and so would Albus," Harry saw the look of concentration in Draco's eyes, "You would be praised in the end. And you would be praised for something that you alone did to help other people."
Draco smiled softly, "You're right again Harry, and you know? I don't' mind this time," suddenly he stopped and stood up straight, feeling a like a weight had been lifted, "So, who do we talk to?"
Harry smiled back and he to straightened, "Right this way my dear spy, right this way."
~*~
"Really?" Albus Dumbledore brightened considerably as he looked from Draco to Harry, "This is good news... Only if you really want to Draco," He leaned towards the blond haired boy.
"I really want to. I don't care if I'm caught. I want to help you win this damned war!" Draco's response was low but forceful. Albus smiled again at both. All three of them looked up as an owl flew into the room. When Albus read the notice the two teenagers' eyes widened at he went white.
"You said that you didn't care Draco... I think that you'd better have a look at this first..." Albus handed the picture that had been in the letter to the blond teen.
Draco took one glance at the letter and dropped it immediately, "No."
Harry looked at the young Malfoy, "No what?" Draco didn't answer but stood and walked, straight-backed from the office. Harry frowned and leaned over to look at the picture.
"Oh god..." Severus Snape lay on the floor of the picture surrounded by a pool of his own blood. He was defiantly dead. There was no denying it, especially because on the wall behind him were the words :
Hope you like the after-life Traitor... Spy!!!
~*~
"So. My loyal Death Eaters... My loyal servants... You have by now heard that our dear potions master Severus Snape passed away suddenly two nights ago. I hope you remember that little lesson. I really hope you do," Voldemort glided through his Death Eaters with a malicious grin on his face. He stopped briefly beside Draco then moved on, "That was getting rid of a spy and showing you new, young ones that even if you have skills that are unmatchable, like Snape's potions skills, you can and will be killed if you spy."
Draco blanked his face so no emotion showed and thought of who would die tonight. Not a Death Eater, that's almost given... but a child? A whole family? A Town? He didn't know... and neither did those who could help.
Voldemort spun to his lapdog, Peter Pettigrew, "Go and fetch me that family Wormtail. A nice, normal, muggle family that knows nothing about what is going to happen to them tonight."
~*~
Draco shed his Death Eater clothes and got into the shower that night. He scrubbed and scrubbed and the blood of the innocent family would not come off. It stayed and he cried in the shower for what seemed like hours. He cried until he thought of Harry. Harry had had to watch that. He had to experience that family's pain as though it were his own. And the plans that Voldemort had made after the family had been unheard by the Boy-Who- Lived... He saw pain. He couldn't inform Dumbledore of the little town twenty miles north of Surrey that would be attacked two nights hence. He didn't know. And there were no spies that could tell him...
~*~
"Albus."
"Draco."
"Two nights. There will be an attack on Messings It's muggle; about twenty miles north of Surrey. About fifteen Death Eaters will be going. Two Dementors."
"Thank you Draco. Thank you so much."
"It's my duty. It's my destiny."
~*~
Ten years later you could find Draco Malfoy sitting in his parlour with two children and a wife. One of the many would-be victims of Death Eater attacks. The children would be five and three. Voldemort was defeated six years ago...
"Tell us a story about your tattoo Daddy!" The children would ask and Draco would pull his children onto his lap and tell them of that one week were he had been given the Dark Mark, how he had fought the man who had given it, behind the scenes; and how he had saved the life his wife and how he himself had been saved.
Redemption is always possible, even though you may not think you are worth it.
Destruction and creation are one thing... In the midst of destruction there will always be creation, and Draco had been created in the midst of all the destruction that the Dark Lord had caused, and because of that he would always be extraordinarily strong in spirit and will.
Finis
Draco moaned then sat up in sudden clarity, "Father. Has the Dark Lord called you?" he started to move, dressing quickly as his father stood waiting.
"Indeed he has. And he wants you to come," Lucius looked over his son's form, "You're getting heavy boy."
Draco risked a glance at his body. He was five foot nine and a hundred fifty pounds. You could count his ribs, "Yes Father," inside his sneered at the man. Malfoy's were known for their blond hair, silver eyes and slender bodies. Lucius took that to the extreme though.
"Come on boy," Draco walked quickly behind his father, cursing silently at Voldemort. When they reached the foyer Lucius grabbed Draco's arm and apperated. Draco refused to wince from his fathers grasp.
"Ah, my loyal Malfoy's. So your son is ready is he?" Voldemort glided forward, his snake-like appearance slightly disturbing when added to his hissing voice.
Lucius tugged Draco down to his knees with him, "Yes my Lord." the elder Malfoy leaned forward and brushed the hem of his master's robe.
Voldemort sneered; "So you think." he turned to the younger blond and smiled. It was vaguely creepy to look into the came of the magical world to find him smiling, "And you boy, do you think you are ready to serve me?"
Draco suppressed a shiver of fear and nodded, "Anything for you my Lord."
Severus Snape watched form his corner of the gathered Death Eaters and winced when Draco's arm was grabbed and stretched out.
The scream that could be heard by all ran into the listeners bones, pain of the most incredible kind. They had all felt the sting of the same pain in their seventeenth year of life. That was when all Death Eaters were branded with the Dark Lords Mark.
Voldemort sighed in satisfaction. He loved to create pain in any way possible. It was his vice, "So now you all see that a loyal Death Eater is made. Now it is time to see a loyal Death Eater killed," he monster, no longer a man, spun on air and pointed his wand at an unknown Death Eater, and just for the fun of it used the worst of all the unforgivables, "Avada Kedavera!"
Draco's eyes widened in horror as most of the Death Eaters joined their master in his laughter, before the body had even his the ground. ~That could have been anyone. That could be me in the future.~ Draco swallowed the bile in the back of his mouth. It would not do to throw up at his first meeting.
~*~
Several hours later found Draco sitting in the potions room across for his professor, Severus Snape.
"Sir. I, I can't. That man, the one that was killed. Do you know who he was?" Tear streaks marred the boy's perfect features.
Severus sighed, "I did. His name was Mural Barton. He was in the same year as me when we went to Hogwarts. I had tutored him in potions for four years. He has three children, two of them are enrolled in Hogwarts right now, his eldest child, Taraway, is a fifth year. She's in Ravenclaw," Severus sighed again then looked into his students face, "Draco. Are you loyal to him or are you having second and third doubts?"
Draco looked into Severus' eyes and blinked, "I had those thoughts for the last seven years. I don't think that I could be loyal to him, not after what he's showed his capable of."
"That's good. Slytherin's were never meant to be evil, just sly and cunning. Ambitious," Severus leaned forward and looked intently at the boy across from him, "Are you going to openly defy Voldemort and your father or are you going to do it discretely. Or maybe you'll learn to live with the murders and torturing that you see."
Draco stood up and spun on his heel, "I will never defy my Lord. And you would do well to tell him that Severus. I will never spy or defy. Take my word on that," the door slammed loudly and the fading footsteps broke Severus' heart. The boy was a Death Eater. He would always be.
~*~
"Malfoy! Mal-Draco!" Harry ran up to the teen that was storming through the corridors.
Draco put a sneer on his face and stopped abruptly, causing the boy chasing him to bump into him lightly, "What do you want Potter?"
Harry looked at Draco and caught his breath, hunched over a bit. He breathed deep and stood tall, "Draco, I overheard some of your conversation with Snape. Are you a true Death Eater? I mean, hell Draco! I've known you for seven years and though you may be a git to everyone I don't think that you would be able to become a Death Eater with your conscience intact."
Draco blinked blankly at the smaller teen. ~ I wonder why he's so small. ~ the sudden thought intruded and he shook it from his head. Where the hell did that come from? Anyway. "What do you mean Potter?" ~Potter is a good guy. He knows nothing about Death Eaters! ~
Harry let his mask go and Draco took a startled step back. The-Boy-Who- Lived looked tired. Beyond tired, he looked like he was about to fall over. There was pain in his eyes and he slouched a bit more then a normal person, "I know. I know everything about the Death Eaters. I have to watch them doing thing to people, to feel their pain when Voldemort tortures them. I know what happens to them," Draco stared at him in horror, "The scar that he gave me that night sixteen years ago sealed our fates together and our souls. I see what he does. And if he slept, he would see what I do."
Draco swallowed. If he trusted Harry... If he trusted this boy with his life, what would he do with it? "What did you want to talk to me about Potter? I hole you don't expect me to..."
"Shut up. Just shut up and listen for a minute will you?" Harry poked Draco's chest, "I know that you don't really want to be a Death Eater and I know that you have no other choice. But listen... You could help us win. You could help us in a most important way. I know that you can't trust Snape right now with your decisions, but you can trust me," Harry laughed mockingly, "After all, everyone is rallying behind me on the 'good' side of the war..."
Draco cocked his head to the side, "You know, you're right. Who better to trust but the Boy-Who-Lived?" Harry flushed slightly, "Okay Potter, what do you want me to do to help the 'good' side of the war?"
"Spy for us."
"If you heard the conversation that Snape and I had then you wouldn't be asking that question. I do not want to die a horrible death..."
"You won't have to. I know several spies who have been spying ever since Voldemort rose up twenty years ago," Harry smirk and gestured for the two of them to walk while they talked, "If you're smart enough, cunning enough and will to take a little pain you can become one of the best spies unknown," Draco opened his mouth, "No, I don't want you to tell me that you've thought about spying and you're not going to I want you to think of all the people who are in hospitals and care centres because someone wasn't spying, because someone wasn't there to give valuable information to the right people."
Draco's shoulders slumped and he slowed, "You know Potter, you're right. Damn it, you're right," he sighed and Harry looked over to him, "I just can't become a spy though... I need a really good reason..."
"How about that fact that when Voldemort is gone and you aren't dead, you won't be put into Azkaban or given the Dementor's Kiss. I would testify your involvement to the war and so would Albus," Harry saw the look of concentration in Draco's eyes, "You would be praised in the end. And you would be praised for something that you alone did to help other people."
Draco smiled softly, "You're right again Harry, and you know? I don't' mind this time," suddenly he stopped and stood up straight, feeling a like a weight had been lifted, "So, who do we talk to?"
Harry smiled back and he to straightened, "Right this way my dear spy, right this way."
~*~
"Really?" Albus Dumbledore brightened considerably as he looked from Draco to Harry, "This is good news... Only if you really want to Draco," He leaned towards the blond haired boy.
"I really want to. I don't care if I'm caught. I want to help you win this damned war!" Draco's response was low but forceful. Albus smiled again at both. All three of them looked up as an owl flew into the room. When Albus read the notice the two teenagers' eyes widened at he went white.
"You said that you didn't care Draco... I think that you'd better have a look at this first..." Albus handed the picture that had been in the letter to the blond teen.
Draco took one glance at the letter and dropped it immediately, "No."
Harry looked at the young Malfoy, "No what?" Draco didn't answer but stood and walked, straight-backed from the office. Harry frowned and leaned over to look at the picture.
"Oh god..." Severus Snape lay on the floor of the picture surrounded by a pool of his own blood. He was defiantly dead. There was no denying it, especially because on the wall behind him were the words :
Hope you like the after-life Traitor... Spy!!!
~*~
"So. My loyal Death Eaters... My loyal servants... You have by now heard that our dear potions master Severus Snape passed away suddenly two nights ago. I hope you remember that little lesson. I really hope you do," Voldemort glided through his Death Eaters with a malicious grin on his face. He stopped briefly beside Draco then moved on, "That was getting rid of a spy and showing you new, young ones that even if you have skills that are unmatchable, like Snape's potions skills, you can and will be killed if you spy."
Draco blanked his face so no emotion showed and thought of who would die tonight. Not a Death Eater, that's almost given... but a child? A whole family? A Town? He didn't know... and neither did those who could help.
Voldemort spun to his lapdog, Peter Pettigrew, "Go and fetch me that family Wormtail. A nice, normal, muggle family that knows nothing about what is going to happen to them tonight."
~*~
Draco shed his Death Eater clothes and got into the shower that night. He scrubbed and scrubbed and the blood of the innocent family would not come off. It stayed and he cried in the shower for what seemed like hours. He cried until he thought of Harry. Harry had had to watch that. He had to experience that family's pain as though it were his own. And the plans that Voldemort had made after the family had been unheard by the Boy-Who- Lived... He saw pain. He couldn't inform Dumbledore of the little town twenty miles north of Surrey that would be attacked two nights hence. He didn't know. And there were no spies that could tell him...
~*~
"Albus."
"Draco."
"Two nights. There will be an attack on Messings It's muggle; about twenty miles north of Surrey. About fifteen Death Eaters will be going. Two Dementors."
"Thank you Draco. Thank you so much."
"It's my duty. It's my destiny."
~*~
Ten years later you could find Draco Malfoy sitting in his parlour with two children and a wife. One of the many would-be victims of Death Eater attacks. The children would be five and three. Voldemort was defeated six years ago...
"Tell us a story about your tattoo Daddy!" The children would ask and Draco would pull his children onto his lap and tell them of that one week were he had been given the Dark Mark, how he had fought the man who had given it, behind the scenes; and how he had saved the life his wife and how he himself had been saved.
Redemption is always possible, even though you may not think you are worth it.
Destruction and creation are one thing... In the midst of destruction there will always be creation, and Draco had been created in the midst of all the destruction that the Dark Lord had caused, and because of that he would always be extraordinarily strong in spirit and will.
Finis