I sat in my family room with the rest of the Potter/Weasley clan nervously sending periodical glances at the clock.
"It's still there," I heard my father say beside me.
"Hm?" I asked, turning with a start to face him.
"The clock, it's still there, and it reads 11:07 like it did five seconds ago."
"Oh. I ummm," I stuttered having no clue what to say.
"If you're tired go to bed pumpkin, you're going back to school tomorrow. Don't feel the need to stay up with all of us."
"You wouldn't mind?" I said and glanced at my sister who was sitting on the ground laughing about something with our cousin.
"Of course not. You've spent almost the whole break around us."
"Alright good night Daddy," I said pecking him on the cheek. "Night all!" I announced, standing and exiting the sitting room.
"Night Ebby."
"Goodnight."
"Sleep well!" A chorus of voices responded. I walked into my room checking my watch, relieved that my father had given me the easy out. Mr. Malfoy was not going to be happy I was late. I shut and locked the door to my room before Apparating out.
"Nine minutes," Draco Malfoy said starring into the face of a golden pocket watch.
"I'm sorry."
"Sit," he commanded.
I sat.
"I do not like tardiness," he began to circle my chair. That irked me. He always had me sit when he lectured me so I had to continuously look up to him.
"Nor do I, but you've stressed that these meetings are of absolute secrecy, and I couldn't escape the family gathering."
"Well, perhaps next time it would be wise for you to think of some excuse as to why you must leave early in advance."
"Perhaps." I replied curtly
"And perhaps you should be punished someway for your tardiness." I waited, he couldn't deal out anything too bad; after all, I was leaving for school tomorrow.
"Yes-" I prompted.
"Are you that eager to serve your punishment?" he asked with that annoying smart-ass smirk on his face.
"No," I replied.
"What?"
"No sir," I corrected
"That's good, because your punishment is very simple." he paused as if daring me to again inquire what it was. "You are still a bit squeamish about applying torture onto others. I think I will use this punishment as a lesson. You will find that there are ten muggles in my dungeon at this very moment," he stated. "I like to keep them around for instances just like this. Your job is to torture nine of them."
"With the Cruciatus Curse?" I asked. I couldn't imagine inflicting the Cruciatus Curse on nine different people.
He casually shrugged, "By whatever means you like but Cruciatus is probably the most painful."
"Alright, lead me to your dungeons." I said standing up. I followed Draco through the twisting and curving halls of the Malfoy Manor. The descent into the dungeons was not a pleasant one; the walls sucked happiness from their enclosure as the niter sucked the oxygen from the air.
"Here we are," he said far to pleasantly for our dismal surroundings when we reached a solid wooden door. He pulled out his wand, said a charm and the door popped open. With a creek, it revealed ten muggles, three men, one woman, four teenage girls, and one small boy child. Everyone looked up when we entered.
"How long have they been here?" I asked as I scanned the room. I couldn't believe humans were actually living in here. The room couldn't have been any larger than 7x7 feet and it wreaked the scent of too many people in too small a space. No one looked like they had showered or bathed in ages. A whole in the ground indicated what imagined being their toilette. A sickening feeling began to well up from my stomach. They were living like rats!
"Oh, they've been here for about a year to six months," Draco said offhandedly. My eyes wondered over to the four girls who were huddling in a corner, pulling a spare blanket around the four of them. The feeling in my stomach got worse.
"They're not here for-" I trailed off.
"Well of course," Draco Malfoy laughed, "though I'd say Thomas makes more visits down here than I do." I saw all four of the girls pull the blanket closer as if the bit of material could save them from the hell of Draco Malfoy's hands.
"But Thomas if barely eleven!" I protest indignantly.
"Are you going to tell me how to parent?" he asked with an amused raiser eyebrow.
"No," I sighed.
"Excuse me?" he said in that arrogant tone I would vow to get rid of.
"No sir," I corrected.
"That's what I thought. Now get on with it," he urged. "Nine out of ten." I knew enough to know that Crucio would tire me out too much, and that I couldn't fathom the idea of inflicting that much pain on these poor souls, so I decided on something less harsh. The Causar Dor curse was something I had learned in one of the books Draco had given me to read. I gave a sick glance around the room. Who should I choose to forgo torture? Briefly, I considered the four girls; they couldn't possibly be any older than me, and had obviously suffered something terrible, but I changed my mind when my eyes fell on the small boy who was curled up under what I presumed to be his mother's arm. I would spare him. I took aim with my wand and fired the curse at the first girl. Her screams echoed all around us before I lifted the curse. The bile began to rise in my throat. I chanced a glance at Draco to see he was smirking. How could he enjoy this? This was sick! I was beginning to feel ill in my stomach. Every time I lowered my wand I felt worse and worse. Each person's screams became more and more torturous. I had turned my wand on all of the muggles except the boy and the mother when I rounded on them.
"Spare my baby," the women pleaded. "He's sick." As if on cue the child coughed.
"Thean I'm sorry," I said, and I lowered my wand to curse her. As the jet of light shot though my wand, and the woman's screams echoed around us, I couldn't help but think of my father's mother, dying to save her only son.
"Stop it!" the boy yelled and charged at me his little fist beating uselessly at my legs. "Stop hurting my mummy!" he sobbed. I lifted the curse and impassively pushed the child off my robes.
"Why?" the girl in the corner croaked. "Why are we here?"
"Because you're worthless," Mr. Malfoy answered for me.
"I don't understand," the womaen said.
"You're nothing. I am superior to you and that's that." He answered slowly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
I turned to look at Mr. Malfoy.
"Come along Ebby," he spoke up. We exited the cell and Mr. Malfoy locked the door behind us. "It's a real rush the first time isn't it?" he spoke up, taking my sickening silence for awe.
"Yes," I said, but I was lying. That was sick. Torturing innocent people wasn't power. Power was respect, fighting those who could fight back, and defending what you believed in; Draco Malfoy did not have power.
"I can't wait to be powerful," I spoke up.
"Just wait," Draco said, "You'll be great."
I nodded. I would be great. I would be greater than Draco Malfoy, than any of the Death Eaters, and I would have real power, not this sickening illusion of it.