A/N: I would like to thank Yeti, coz she rules & tsunami, volcano, Italian_chick 54, Claire Thorpe (for her great idea for the story), Atalanta Zora, Wendelin the Weird and anyone else that I forgot J luv BIGFOOT
DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling, except for the idea, and a later character.
Draco stared out the window, his gaze sweeping the grounds of Malfoy Manor. He looked at the dark sky, the moon a full circle shining brightly in it. He sighed and turned around to get into bed. It wasn't the first time that his father hadn't come home to greet him when he came back from Hogwarts for the summer. In fact, it happened quite a lot. But this time, Draco couldn't shake a heavy feeling in his heart, one that had been lurking there ever since he'd arrived at the Manor with his mum.
"Draco," he heard his mum call. "Are you in bed yet?"
"Yeah. 'Night," he replied, wrapping the feather quilt over him tighter; it was cold at the Manor, and he sometimes wished that he was at Hogwarts, nice and warm with hot water bottles waiting for him at night. Even though it was summer, the Malfoy Manor was surrounded by tall evergreens that encased the house in coldness and darkness. His father said that it was necessary, though, to hide from all of Voldemort's enemies, who wanted revenge on the Malfoys.
As he thought of Hogwarts and the warm beds, he drifted off to sleep.
אּ
I am not a follower; I do not follow your commands.
I am a leader, I command you to follow me, the chosen one.
In my footsteps, upon the sand, I will take revenge.
To escape my wrath, you must repent what you've done.
Fight like a true man, take you have earned.
And leave the rest behind.
If you believe in me, you will succeed.
If not, just wait and see.
אּ
"Draco, wake up," Draco felt a cool hand nudge him, tears falling down onto his face. He fluttered his eyes open and stared into the desolate face of his mother. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"W-What is it?" he said, stifling a yawn. Narcissa Malfoy collapsed on the bed, crying profusely. Alarmed, Draco moved over and took the letter from his mother's hand. At first she resisted, but she seemed too weak to do anything, and gave it to him. He opened it up and read it.
Narcissa (& Draco),
By the time you read this, I will be dead. I have been captured by the enemy, in Harzordre's Forest. A Death Eater has betrayed us, but Voldemort has taken care of him. I have enclosed in this letter, short as it is, something that may save my life. Draco, it is up to you to figure it out; I am counting on you.
Even so, I will tell you something that may help you: I will be dead when you save my life. I send you both my love. I got everything I ever wanted in this life, and I thank you for that. Though you may not know it, you were always my first priority; I suppose it is time to say goodbye.
To save me, Draco, you must perform this curse.
E si crole te folwer; E gofrone folwo trec frosize
E si r junedo, E frosize tre u folwo Em, te dograte un.
Ju me gund ecche, setray te suld, E corut difenge.
Hun frate me trase, tre dol crasant dinwe trec'ce zone.
Gruenls ki r truf cone, hird dole tre reafed.
Ec sore te fun decol.
Ug tre sundro u Em, tre ilk fordret.
Ug poletc-
This note has just been taken from the death eater, lucius malfoy; it has been agreed that he will be able to send this to his family, but Draco beware- the curse has not been written properly, it is not finished. Note that if you perform it while you do not know it all, you will end up with your father. There is no need for you to die because of your father's mistakes. A kind auror has allowed you this knowledge on the basis that he knows you and knows of your true calling… in the end you will meet your fate. Until then…
Remus Lupin.
Draco's throat filled with tears and he let them spill over his eyes and drop onto his quilt. He hugged his mother and she cradled him in her arms, whispering comforting words in his ear. They sat there like that for what seemed eternity before they fell asleep.
אּ
Three months later.
אּ
Draco stared at his mother's retreating back as she walked out of Platform 9 and ¾. He recalled her eyes as she hugged him goodbye, just minutes ago. They had been hollow and blank, the dark chocolate brown vessels of nothingness. They had been like that ever since she learnt of Lucius Malfoy's death. Draco remembered the way she used to laugh and cuddle him when he was a baby, with her long, skinny arms. Though her arms had stayed the same, it was now he who cuddled her as she stared into the fire and cried. All throughout summer, she had been sinking lower and lower into the depths of despair. At any given moment, she could drown all together and it would be like having no one there at all. Draco thought that perhaps that's what happened to you when you received the Dementor's Kiss.
Draco scratched at the paint on the sill of the window. He was surprised at his mother's reaction to his father's death. As guilty as it made him feel, he didn't think that his mother had truly loved her husband. Sure, she worshipped the ground he walked on, but that didn't mean she'd loved him. How could she, when all he'd done was treat her like a slave? He couldn't think of how many times he'd hid under his bed as Lucius had yelled at her, threatened her.
Just then the compartment door slid open. Draco turned in his seat. Harry Potter stood there, next to Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
"Oh, let's go," Ron snarled as he noticed Draco sitting there. He turned around and Hermione followed suit. Harry, however, stared at him intensely with his emerald green eyes.
"Yes? What do you want you loser?" Draco said, hoping his voice sounded cold and cruel.
"I-I just wanted to say sorry, about your Dad," Harry said, still never taking his eyes of Draco.
"Oh, so you've had a change of heart, now that I seemed to have joined your little club? Offering me full membership for the Kids who've lost a Parent Foundation, or something. Save it, Potter. I don't need your apologies, and if I did need any, you'd be the last person I'd want them from," Draco stood up and shoved Harry out the door, slamming the door so hard that he thought the glass would break. He sat back down on his chair and sighed, leaning his head against the cool glass.
The tears dropped suddenly from his eyes before he could stop them. He leant back from the window and quickly wiped his nose. He didn't want anyone seeing him cry, especially Harry Potter or Ron Weasley. Unfortunately, before he could do anything the compartment door slid open and a girl with long, flaming red hair burst in, tears streaming down her face. She didn't seem to notice Draco sitting there in the corner and sat down on the chair, burying her face in her arms as she sobbed loudly.
The train started to jerk and moved, picking up speed as it went along. Draco watched Ginny Weasley cry steadily for about ten minutes before deciding to make his presence known.
"Uh- what's wrong?" he said, not knowing what to do. Ginny's head snapped up, her brown eyes startled. She went a deep red as she recognised Draco.
"What are you doing here?" she cried out, standing up quickly.
"Well, I was here before you, wasn't I?" he replied coolly.
"But-But that means you were here for the whole time, and you didn't tell me! You just sat there, staring at me crying my eyes out, didn't you?" she accused, staring him straight in the eye.
Draco felt a rush of heat go through him as he stared back at her. She was really beautiful; her brown eyes were large, her nose straight, her red hair smooth and silky. He'd noticed while he was in his second year, and she was in her first, when he'd first seen her. Now, though, she seemed better looking, probably because he'd never seen her this close up before.
"Well, you have to admit, it's a bit hard not too," he said, not taking his eyes off her. Gosh, he thought. Potter's a fool! A beautiful girl was crazy about him, and he didn't even know it! All of a sudden, Draco felt a ripple of envy slither it's way down his spine as he thought about it.
Ginny opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it as she realised what he'd meant.
"Oh…you really are despicable, you know that?" she said, flustered. She pulled down her trunk and tried to open the door with it in her hands.
"You could help, you know. It's the gallant thing for a man to do to a girl who is struggling with her trunk," she said, flipping her hair out of eyes.
"Well, why would I help you, when I don't want you to go?" Draco replied, just as surprised as Ginny was at his words. She sighed and sat back down, knowing that there was no way she could get out, especially now that Draco had his feet resting comfortably on her trunk.
"So, Ginny, tell me why you were crying," he said, noticing how beautiful her name was for the first time.
"Why should I tell you?" she snapped back, apparently annoyed at him. He shrugged and looked out the window, his fingers tapping against the glass.
"Stop that!" she yelled, grabbing his hands and placing them in his lap. Draco stared at her with a raised eyebrow, before pulling out a book from his pocket. He saw Ginny staring at it inquisitively, so he spoke.
"Want to read it? I've already read it three times, it's a great book."
"I'll pass. I can just imagine what it would be-How to cast a Death Omen onto your enemy," she snapped back, resting her head on the back of the chair. For some strange reason, he felt a coldness in his heart as he realised that she was obviously very angry. It hurt him, and he didn't know why.
"So, you're in sixth year, aren't you?" he said, trying to start a conversation.
"Gee, aren't you smart. Of course I am. I would've thought that you would know everything about my family, seems like you are so intent on making a joke about them," she turned around and lay back, closing her eyes. Draco sighed; obviously, this wasn't going to go anywhere. For the rest of the trip, he gazed at the sleeping Ginny. As they neared the castle, he hesitated before leaning over and nudging her awake.
"Wake up, we're almost there," he said before standing up to get his own robes out. She rubbed her eyes and stood up, stretching and yawning. He looked at her T-shirt, sewn in different places messily, and he felt a twinge in his heart. She pulled out her robe from her trunk, and hastily pulled it on. Draco noticed how it stretched over her chest, when she'd grown. It was too short for her, and revealed the dirty sneakers on her feet. He gulped and pulled on his own robe.
"Um-you've got a smudge, uh-right here," he said, brushing away and ink spot on her cheek. As his fingers touched her cheek, he realised how cold his fingers were, compared to her warm cheeks. To his horror, he blushed and looked away.
The minute the train pulled up at Hogwarts, she was out the door and off the train before Draco had even moved.
אּ
That night, he sat at the Slytherin table, eating his roast beef. His eyes never strayed far from the Gryffindor table or, rather, Ginny who was laughing and smiling happily with Hermione, Ron, Harry and Neville Longbottom.
"Hey Draco," Pansy Parkinson called over the table, smiling at him. Her eyes pierced into his and he shivered; he couldn't believe that she thought she liked him. In truth, she repulsed him. She never left him alone and if she were a fly, she'd be long dead. He looked away from her and stuffed some roast beef in his mouth.
A hand reached out and touched his shoulder. He turned around and almost had a heart attack as the Bloody Baron hovered above him.
"Come," the ghost whispered menacingly in a husky voice. It was the first time Draco had heard him utter a word, and he nearly fainted. He could feel all eyes in the hall on him as he followed the Baron out of the Great Hall.
The ghost led him to a classroom and set him on the floor.
"I have heard of thy father's death. Tis time, now, for thee to perform the task thy father set out for thee, in his note. I owe thy father a favour or two, from a past lifetime, and as he's dead, I shall have to repay him by helping thee. Dost thou understand? Wast thee listening?" the Bloody Baron spoke out. Draco could only nod mutely, in awe of the overpowering presence the ghost emitted.
"Very well. I have decided to give thee three clues that may help you:
1. The curse is written in an ancient language, known as 'Krilic'. There is a book of translating in the library, entitled 'Krilic, Past & Present.' However, the book is in the restricted section, and it is up to thee to get it.
2. Thee must have something of thy fathers, anything that he once wore to perform thy task.
3. Thy father is dead, and only thy work will bring him back. Stay focused and make sure thee want to release him before thee do thy work."
With that, the Bloody Baron disappeared, leaving Draco by himself in the darkened room. What did he mean, he had to make sure he really wanted his father back? Of course he did, how could someone not want their father to be brought back to life? He shook his head and stood up. Maybe it was his imagination, but sometimes he was sure that his father was inside his head, pressuring him to bring him back. Draco hadn't really thought about what his father had said in the letter. Of course, he still had it, but he didn't really think he could summon up the power to perform such a curse.
He walked out of the room, to find that all the students were returning to the common rooms. He made his way down towards the Slytherin room, near the dungeons, squeezing his way through the crowd. Then he saw Ginny, walking towards him, with…Potter. For some reason, Draco felt an urge to grab Harry by the throat and throttle him to death for being so oblivious to Ginny's adoration. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, hoping to make the image go away.
אּ
Draco…Bring me back, do as I said…I placed my life in your hands…
אּ
Draco heard it distinctly, echoing in his ears. The familiar hiss of his father's voice filled his head, and he leant against the wall, gripping a suit of armour for support.
"Draco, are you alright?" he heard a voice say. Fluttering his eyes open, he stared into the sweet face of Ginny. He groaned and turned away.
"What's wrong? Do you need to go to the hospital win-" she asked again.
"No!" Draco cut her off; he didn't want to talk, it hurt too much. He stormed away, leaving Ginny behind. When he looked back, she was staring at him, taken aback. He felt horrible inside, yet he brushed it off as nausea. He didn't have time to waste with a stupid Weasley.
A/N: Please, please tell me if you like it (or if you don't). R/r ☻☻☻☻