Chapter 9: In which a lot of things happen

"Why do you want to kill me?" Draco was on the floor. The Cruciatus Curse was the worst thing he had ever experienced in his entire life. It was like his whole body was on fire, like knives were piercing every inch of his body.

"You mean you don't know?" Voldemort's smile went wider. "I thought you were smart. Obviously I was wrong." He lifted his wand.

No! Don't!

"Crucio."

Draco screamed with pain. Voldemort's high, cold laughter filled the room.

"Tell me, Draco, what can you do that other wizards can't?" the Dark Lord lowered his wand.

Draco lay on the floor, shivering and shaking. He could not answer. The Dark Lord started to lift his wand. "Magic without my wand," Draco managed to choke out..

Voldemort lowered his wand. "Very good." Then, on reflection, he pointed his wand straight at Draco. "What does your father think about being a Death-Eater? What does he think about serving the greatest Dark Lord in the world?"

Draco hesitated. Immediately pain coursed through his entire body, leaving him screaming on the floor.

"Well?" Voldemort said lazily through Draco's screams. He was clearly enjoying this.

He hates it, Draco got out, struggling to stay conscious and to know what was going on.

"I'm sorry?"

He hates it!

"You're going to have to speak louder than that, boy."

He---hates---it! Draco wouldn't be able to stay conscious for much longer.

"Again?"

Then Draco understood. The Dark Lord knew what he was saying, he knew perfectly well, but he wanted Draco to say it out loud.

"He hates it!" Draco wished the pain would stop.

"More."

More? Pain redoubled. Draco gave an agonized scream of anguish. The pain was never going to end.

"The end can come sooner or later. It's your choice," Voldemort said, smiling as the screams that were music to his ears reached them.

"He said it was the biggest mistake of his life!" Draco finally gasped, writhing from the pain. Stop! Please! Draco shut his eyes and wished he were somewhere else, anywhere but near the Dark Lord, but he knew it was impossible. He was going to die there; he was going to be tortured to death.

Suddenly, the pain was gone. Draco lay shivering and shaking on the smooth marble floor.

Through Draco's tormented mind, one thing registered: he was on a marble floor. A second ago he hadn't been on it.

Draco opened his eyes. Everything looked very familiar. Very shakily, he tried to lift himself up. He heard a scream before his strength left him, and he collapsed, falling into a pair of soft, familiar arms.

*                    *                    *                    *                    *

Draco opened his eyes. He was in his bedroom in Malfoy Manor. Looking down at him worriedly were his mother and father.

"Draco?" his mother said gently. "What happened?"

Everything flooded back to his mind. He pushed himself up, and then sank back down. "How---how long have I been out?"

"Just a few minutes. What happened?" Draco's father said.

"I---the Dark Lord. . ." Draco shuddered. "He---he caught me. . .wanted to kill me. . ."

Lucius started. "Why?"

"I---I can do things normal wizards can't." Draco pushed himself up again. "He'll be back. He'll find me."

"We can't stay here then, this'll be the first place he'll look," Lucius said. "I'm surprised he hasn't. . ."

"Where can we go? Not to those Death-Eaters---"

"Dumbledore," Draco said.

Lucius shook his head. "He's convinced I'm in league with the Dark Lord. He won't believe us. He'll think it's a trap."

"Maybe not," Narcissa said. "You know how trusting he is."

"With us, though? Everyone is convinced I'm a Death-Eater, that I'm in league with him," Lucius said. "And do we even know where Dumbledore is? How can we find him if we don't know where he is?"

Suddenly a high-pitched scream rent the air. One of the house-elfs, Draco realized.

"He's here!"

Draco fought down panic. "I can take you to Dumbledore, no matter where he is."

"But it's useless! He won't listen to us!"

"It's better than staying here and facing him!" Draco's voice cracked. "Don't let me face him, please, don't let him torture me!"

At his son's words Lucius clenched his fist and a fire burned in his eyes. "Take us to Dumbledore."

"Hold my hand." Draco's voice shook. Any second now the Dark Lord would come in, and if they weren't gone when he came. . .don't think about it, he ordered himself. Think about Dumbledore. Think about being in front of him, right now.

Draco's bedroom door burst open. The Malfoys disappeared. Voldemort gave a great curse.

*                    *                    *                    *                    *

"Draco Malfoy is Merlin's heir!" Hermione announced.

"What?" Harry, Ron and Mr. Weasley said together.

"Merlin's heir. He's descended from Merlin!" Hermione said excitedly. "Merlin was the first person to be able to do magic without using a wand."

"You mean Draco can do that?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Yes. Centuries ago a sort of curse was placed on ancient magic---that's what it was called---no one would be able to use magic without a wand until Merlin's heir was born," Hermione explained.

"Why Malfoy? Why now, after so many centuries?" Ron asked.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe the circumstances were just right when he was born. . .you know, full moon, Saturn in the sky, that sort of thing. Maybe when they meant heir they meant a descendant who was born on the same day, in the same condition as Merlin had."

Ron shook his head. "I don't believe it. Draco Malfoy is a descendant of Merlin."

"How can you be so sure Malfoy is the heir?" Harry asked.

"Easy. We saw for ourselves, didn't we? He can move things and communicate with his mind. He should be able to disappear and reappear anywhere he wants to, whenever he wants to. There are a few other things, but I've forgotten what they are," Hermione said.

Harry shook his head. "Amazing." He snapped his fingers. "That's why Voldemort's after him!" Ron and Mr. Weasley flinched. "Sorry. It must be, right? Voldemort's afraid Malfoy will---I don't know, take over, or get rid of him somehow."

"You mean get rid of him to become another, new, Dark Lord? Why would Malfoy want to do that? Oh, no, actually, that would be just like Malfoy, the evil git," Ron said.

"Malfoy will have such a big advantage over Voldemort---sorry---he'll---Malfoy I mean---will be bound to win," Harry said.

"Would Malfoy even think of doing that?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe not, but Volde---You-Know-Who---is convinced Malfoy will," Harry said.

"But Lucius Malfoy is a Death-Eater, you saw that yourself, Harry."

"Voldemort must feel threatened," Harry said. "Maybe Mr. Malfoy didn't tell Voldemort about Draco's abilities, and Voldemort thinks Mr. Malfoy turned on him. Or maybe he just can't stand the idea of someone being stronger than he is."

*                    *                    *                    *                    *

Draco straightened up. He was in what looked like a study. Books lined every single inch of the walls. Most of them were old. In front of Draco, sitting on a mahogany desk, was Albus Dumbledore.

Before Draco could even blink, Dumbledore had his wand on the Malfoys. "Don't think about it," he warned Lucius. Draco's father held his hands up in the air. "Wouldn't dream of it," he replied.

"How did you know where I was? Doubtless one of my senior staff members could have informed you, but that is unlikely," Dumbledore said.

"I didn't know where you were, but I can explain why I still managed to find you."

"Perhaps you could also explain why you disappeared from the Weasley household. They are very worried about you," Dumbledore said.

"I didn't mean to disappear," Draco said. I wanted to get away from them, yes, but not to him. "It wasn't my doing, either."

"Oh?"

"I---do you know why the Weasleys are so concerned over my safety?" Draco knew he was procrastinating, stalling for time, but if you had just come face-to-face with the most feared Dark Lord in over a century, you wouldn't want to tell your story anytime soon.

"Why don't we come back to that later?" Dumbledore still had his wand on them. Draco was not surprised. He would have done the same thing if he were in Dumbledore's place.

Draco took a deep breath. He did not want to talk about his. But he knew it was the only way they would be able to get help.

"I took a walk," Draco began. "Alone. Someone grabbed me and Disapparated. I. . ." Draco faltered, remembering Voldemort standing in front of him. "It was a black room." Draco shuddered. "He. . .he was there, standing in front of me."

"He?" Dumbledore asked, but he seemed to have guessed whom Draco was talking about.

Draco nodded. "The. . ." the Dark Lord, he finished silently. Dumbledore's eyes widened, but he did not say anything.

"He told me he wanted to---to kill me," Draco's voice shook. As he thought of what had happened after that, his knees buckled and he sank into a chair that had not been there before. Dumbledore jumped up. Then he sat back down again.

"What happened after that?" Dumbledore asked gently.

Draco could not speak. The memory was too overpowering. He could still feel it, feel the pain, the helplessness, hear the chilling laughter. "Pain," he murmured. "So much pain. . ."

"He tortured you," Dumbledore said quietly.

Draco ran a trembling hand over his hair. "He liked it. He liked hearing the screams. . .I wanted it to end. . .but it never did."

"How did you escape?" Dumbledore asked.

"I---" Draco forced himself to think. All he could remember was the pain. He forced himself to delve deeper, aware he was beginning to shake again. He remembered closing his eyes, wishing he were somewhere else. . .and the pain had stopped.

Dumbledore pondered what Draco had just told him. He thought about the chair that had appeared all by itself, thought about Draco appearing in his study, though about Draco communicating by mind, thought about how he had escaped from the Dark lord. And the puzzle clicked. He understood. Only a few things remained to be cleared up.

A/N: Wow, twelve reviews for this chapter too! And I've 46 reviews now. . .so much! Not that I'm complaining, of course. . .

Rachel

DRACOs LOVER

Sixstars

Ava

Wildfire Friendship: Merlin was the first wizard and the most powerful. . .thanks for your compliment!

Dragon

Anya Malfoy: I never said I was going to stop! Well, maybe I hinted, can't remember. But you can rest assured I will never stop this fic as long as there are reviews and, well, until it's finished.

Georgiana

Different Perception: yeah, it'd take more to kill him. . .as for why he let himself get tortured like that, first time he was too surprised to do anything, and after that he was too weak to do anything

Lotrfanatic

Sharon: Miss ya loads! Oh, yeah, thanks for reading and reviewing!

Exwhyzed

Once again, people, if you review, I'll mention you. . .sort of a thanks list. So review!

Oh, bit of self advertising here. . . :P I've put up a new story, it's called Alternates. Basically it's alternate universe and Harry and Draco are best friends. They're in Gryffindor, and recently Harry's not been himself. Really mean, things like that. Read it! And review! Maybe the plot doesn't sound so good here, but it gets better.