Draco Malfoy and his Unknown Fate:
Author's Notes: This chapter is probably the only one that makes me very uneasy. There'll be more notes at the bottom for those of you who read it all the way through.
Warnings for this chapter: Erk. More animals. And mention of rape. Violence. Rather virulent cursing, but considering the situation it's called for. This is in no way, shape, or form meant to be offending or insulting and I deeply apologize if it is.
Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to J.K. Rowling. I'm merely borrowing them for the time being. This will be slash (eventually). Don't like it? Don't read it. Otherwise, enjoy.
The rest of the week was inexplicably peaceful as far as life threatening events went, though a few more dead animals were found on the Hogwarts grounds. Some were disemboweled, others skinned alive or missing vital parts of their anatomy. Draco wasn't bothered with questions again, though a few Gryffindors had been eyeing him suspiciously. Weasley had even had the temerity to call him the culprit, despite the fact that Draco was utterly innocent, the wanker. Other than that, things had gone surprisingly smoothly. It didn't last long of course, it never did. However, when the situation finally turned nasty it do so to an extreme degree.
Draco made his way towards his room, his broomstick slung over one shoulder and his hair unusually windblown from his extra Quidditch practice. The Ravenclaw game was coming up next week and Draco was determined to win. At any rate, it was almost time for dinner and he'd been set on changing his clothes and straightening himself up before entering the Great Hall. On the way, he brushed past Gernot Adder, a seventh year Slytherin exchange student from Durmstrang. The other boy reeked of sex and Draco watched him walk away with a raised eyebrow. His curiosity getting the better of him, he slipped inside the Slytherin common room and was startled to see Peony Parkinson huddled on the sofa.
"Hey, Peony. Did you see-" His words cut off abruptly when Peony raised her tear stained face towards Draco. He felt a rushing sound fill his ears and automatically checked the younger girl over for injuries. He noted a sprained wrist, several bruises on her arms and face, and a fair bit of blood staining her torn robes in a detached manner. She'd obviously been raped and Draco felt his vision go blurry when the bruises on her neck started to appear slowly. Pansy's sister was sobbing, muttering something about death threats and it being all her fault and Draco reassured her, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out what he was saying. He bundled the girl off to the loo with orders to visit Madame Pomfrey directly afterwards and collected his broom.
He hadn't even realized his destination until he threw open the doors of the great hall. Broom still in hand he approached Adder and, with a great deal of force, dealt the older Slytherin a blow to the head. Adder hadn't been expecting it and Draco was Slytherin enough to take advantage of the other boy's oblivious state. Something cracked, be it bone or broomstick, and Draco tossed away the useless weapon before throwing another punch.
Cacophony sounded around him, but Draco barely heard anything above the steady pounding of his pulse in his temples. His world had narrowed to pounding Adder's face in and he did an admirable job of it, turning that smug face into what amounted to raw meat. He didn't even feel the returning blows Adder landed, so intent was he on drawing blood. He knew the teachers were casting spells at him, but some part of his magic was unleashed and the spells only bounced back. A few glass goblets shattered in the hall, sprinkling students with broken glass. With a snarl twisting his face he straddled Adder and started choking the life out of him. Draco was never one for silent wrath, but he was beyond his usual anger and in a place that was pure unadulterated rage.
Someone pulled him off the other boy, securing his arms so that he couldn't escape and Draco lunged for Adder again, not even feeling the distant pain of his shoulder being pulled. "I'm going to kill you, do you understand me you bastard? I'm going to fucking well kill you for what you did to her, do you hear me?!" Draco's voice was laced so thickly with venom it was almost intelligible and he blatantly ignored McGonagall who was raging at him several feet away. "You won't get away with it if I have to hunt you down myself you mudblood cunt!"
"Mr. Malfoy! A hundred points from Slytherin for this inexcusable behavior!" Dumbledore was standing up and surveying the scene with calm resolve while the students shouted and whispered amongst themselves urgently. Adder was staggering to his feet, glaring daggers at Draco and Greg was holding the silver haired Slytherin back with his arms pinioned to the side to prevent him from launching himself at the other boy.
"You think you can stop me! She begged you know, begged me to bugger her blind." Draco lunged forward silently, red staining his vision. Greg wrestled him back with surprising difficulty, his meaty hands digging into Draco's skin and leaving bruises.
Snape swept onto the scene, his robes billowing out behind him. "Explain yourself right now, both of you." Came the icy order. Draco turned to spit out an explanation, but Adder realized exactly what he was about to do and panicked. It might have been the concussion or perhaps just the enraged mortification from getting his face beaten in by a sixth year Slytherin half his size, but the other boy didn't even hesitate to whip out his wand and cast something at Draco.
"Crucio!" And Draco's world faded away, reality replaced with unimaginable pain that burned his bones and boiled his blood. His body went rigid, his eyes rolling back in his head and he screamed, his voice ripped right out of his throat. Even his father, Death Eater that he was, had never gone so far as to cast this on his son. Greg was holding him solidly as Draco writhed in his grip, though Draco was only aware of the furious pain that burnt itself into the very marrow of his bones. A snapping sound echoed throughout the hall and Draco went limp in Greg's arms, his screams falling silent. He caught a glimpse of a white faced Snape holding a broken wand in his hand and then his head lolled to the side of its own accord. His eyesight was wavering in and out, but he caught a glimpse of Potter who was poised to leap over the Gryffindor table. His brilliant green eyes were dark with some unknown emotion and his face, like Snape's, was as white as bone. Their eyes locked for a brief moment.
Then everything went mercifully dark.
To be Continued
Notes: Okay. When I started writing this I had absolutely no intention of touching on the rape issue, but somehow the story developed so it was integral to the plot. Or at least for this stretch of the story. Draco's reaction is that of a big brother; he's utterly enraged Adder has hurt Peony who he's known since he was six. He's not in control of himself. This is supported by the fact that his magic (after five years of being taut to channel it through a wand) goes wild. The cursing was nasty, but can you really blame him? I don't like the C-word, but in this instance its use is justified. Adder's reaction was stupid. Casting the Cruciatus Curse in front of witnesses isn't exactly bright after all, but he panicked. The animal mutilation mentioned in the beginning of this chapter and the previous one is a sign of mental instability and is usually found in serial killers. Chapter 8 briefly touched on Adder's background and the fact he not only knows the Dark Arts, but he was raised by his Uncle who isn't exactly all there either. And don't worry, Adder will get his comeuppance. Although the broomstick over the head did it quite nicely, in my opinion.
Comments and constructive criticism are more than welcome.