Disclaimer:I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably be rich. I do thing Warner Brothers owns the movies, and some formerly small British company owns the copyright to the books. Also, this is slashy. No, I'm not some raving homo (Though I don't mean offense to any homosexuals). This was written for some friends…I hope they like it. I would like to say that Rowan Rosenberg is my own creation (since I forgot to put it on the last one.) Willow Rosenberg is semi-my creation. She is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was a great asset to their group, and she was cool so I added her to my story. She is a bit different than the Willow on screen, but well she is still owned by Mutant Enemy. Thanks and Enjoy.
The houses were hot, and even the magical community seemed to have troubles keeping out the heat. The sun's hot rays touched even the softest of skin burning it into a deep red sunburn. Though the scent of everything seemed to be that of roses, the summer was still hot, and that was that could be known. The mansion loomed over and that seemed to be the only shade on the grounds that were owned by Lucius Malfoy. The land was empty all the servants were in the large manor. Only a lone boy sat outside in the hot air, the boy known as Draco Malfoy.
Rowan made his way into the Slytherin common room with a slight smile on his face. He couldn't help but let the smile go further across his face. It had seemed like months have passed since he came from America, yet school had only started about three weeks ago. He released a breath as he made his way over the large chair that was filled with the young man he was looking for.
"What are you doing here?" Draco's voice rang out from the chair looking at the man who entered the room, "You are not a student, head of house, or a Slytherin, which makes your presence here forbidden." He took a deep breath and blew the air back out at him like a stream of smoke. He looked the youth over his brown hair still over his eyes as Rowan looked at him through his hazel eyes.
Rowan just stood up straight folding his arms in front of him, "I'm still being taught in this school, and Goyle needs to protect himself a bit better from a truth potion. Finding out the nice little password wasn't too hard. I have one for each of the houses, though the Ravenclaws welcome me the most."
"Well go back there," Draco's voice snapped at him. His blonde hair was in shambles which seemed to be his look this year. His robes were finely pressed, but his hair was artistically messed up. He gave Rowan a cold stare as he waited for him to leave.
"Draco cut this shit," Rowan's America tongue was apparent as he stared at Draco. His voice raged levels as he spoke, "You are lonely, alone, you want someone to talk to, but your past experiences say it isn't so. Your destiny can't be reached like this."
Draco's eyes grew wide then were only a slice of an eye, "My destiny?" His voice was cold and hoarse, "What makes you think my destiny is anything but what I have made it?" His blue-gray eyes seemed to grow colder as they looked at him.
"Do you really think your destiny is to end up with your poor excuse for a father in Azkaban?" Rowan's voice grew even colder than Draco's. His hazel eyes seemed to change into the deep blue that was offset by his robes. His eyes were slits, much like Draco's, but his words were so cold that if it were possible a breath of ice would have come from it. He seemed to have a way with his words, but he knew where it was gone.
Draco was enflamed by that comment and his wand seemed to come into his hand immediately. Rowan's own wand was already pointed at Draco before he even fully extended his arm, "You will die…" Draco's voice was hoarse as he seemed to be choking back tears. He looked at Rowan, whose hair seemed to fallen into his eyes.
"Everyone does…" Rowan's voice was still cold and unyielding, "Draco, you know you don't want to be like him. You don't want to end up that way…You have lied to yourself for to long." His wand was pointed directly at Draco's chest, "If you want make something out of my threat go ahead, but it is going to hurt you hell of a lot more than it will hurt me."
Draco brought his wand down, but kept the gaze that was locked onto Rowan, "What do you want with me?" His voice seemed to recede from its hatred into an indifference, which to Rowan seemed just as bad.
"You need a friend, well many friends," Rowan smirked lightly as he moved his wand away from Draco's chest, "You don't want to end up like your father, nor do you want to end up like your mother. Your father is a follower, a servant, a puppet, and a slave, while your mother is a cold shell of a human being, detesting everything that isn't exactly like her, and treating everyone like they are her servants, except you of course."
"I honor my father," Draco lied through his teeth. Each of Rowan's words seemed to cut at Draco leaving mental scars all over his body. Harry may have a scar on his forehead from magic, but Draco's scars ran deeper into him. Harry and Draco both had their scars, but neither wanted to be the way they were, they would change it all if they could.
Rowan let out a slight laugh as he sat down on an armchair, "Isn't this little convoy to try and stop from lying to yourself? It really makes you seem less of a great man than you are meant to be."
Draco had enough about this 'meant to be' and 'destiny' stuff. He stood up and looked down at Rowan in his seat, his superiority once again coming to him, "You really believe that there is something more for me? How do you know this? Can you see the future? Are you some type of seer?"
"What do you think I am?" Rowan's words seemed quieted by the fact the fire crackled louder, "Do you believe me to be a seer? Or just some 'bloody yank' that is getting into your business."
"I don't know who in Merlin's name you are, but you are…" Draco paused as he looked at him, he didn't know what he really wanted to say. He took a deep breath and welling up as much courage as he could. The words flowed from his mouth as if they were a sigh of relief, "right about it all…" Draco's head seemed to instantly be looking down at the floor. He had released something he didn't even really release to Harry. He released his past, mingled with what he thought would be in his future.
"You really don't understand much do you?" Rowan's voice seemed to fade as he looked Draco over. He felt a mental release even if he couldn't read his mind. He saw the release with the air flowing out of him. It seemed like he was changing, but Rowan had no way of knowing if it was for good or worse, "What makes you trust me?"
Draco shook his head not really knowing, "You're a bloody yank who isn't going to be here for long. If you try to do anything to my reputation, I could always shun it off as if you were a bloody nutter!"
"Would that really help?" Rowan said quickly.
"Well no, but…" Draco trailed off as he looked back up at Rowan. He let his breathing return to regular before he spoke again, "What do I have to do?" He wasn't sure about anything and this was the thing he was least sure of at all. He looked at Rowan with a sense of compassion as the words left his lips. He didn't know what he was doing, nor what he was getting himself into, but he would be working at it the best he could.
"Start with those you have wrong…"
Draco moved through the halls after dinner the next day. He had Willow's class that morning, and divination that afternoon. He was to have Astronomy tonight, but he was going to shun it off. It seemed like most of the day today he was going to be with the Gryffindors, but he wasn't about ready to make up for everything he has did. He would start at the bottom. A twinge of guilt seemed to plague him as he looked to what he was doing. It was not the good kind of guilt that you get when you are guilty of doing something wrong, he felt guilty that he was betraying everything he had did for his first 5 years at Hogwarts. He felt like he was betraying himself.
Ron's red hair was the first thing that could easily have been seen. He looked over to Draco with a wrinkle in his nose. Neither of them even liked to be in the same hallway, let alone be looking at each other face to face. Ron's robes seemed a bit older than everyone else's, but he still fit in. He was a Prefect, and also a Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He would become great in his own right, "Malfoy…" The words seem to escape his lungs as he looked at him, "What is such filth doing here?"
"Weasley," Draco sputtered back at him. Both families have hated each other since, what seemed like, the beginning of time. The twinge of guilt seemed to hold him back. He couldn't speak any of the words he had hoped to speak, nor was he sure if he wanted to. The red-haired boy looked at him with a blind hatred that he didn't think he was relaying back. He just stared at the youth.
Draco's forehead let a small sweat bead trail down it on to his nose, sitting there for what seemed only like an instant before falling down it. His blue-gray eyes looked into Ron, trying to find a small bit of fear, but he couldn't read him, "I'm sorry…" Draco choked out quietly. His voice wasn't even audible, but he said the hard words he never wanted to say.
"What was that?" Ron said his lips the only thing that changed about his statue-like posture. Ron only heard a mumbled escape Draco, but his mind went to work deducing what foul thing he could have said. He just waited to see if Draco was 'man enough' to say it, or if he could only say whatever horrid thing he said to the ground.
"I'm sorry," Draco's voice rose only a few decibels, but he knew Ron could hear him that time, "for everything…" He turned around quickly and made his way down the large corridor away from the awe struck Ron. His breathing seemed to grow deeper as he walked further away. He didn't want to have to do that, and the guilt was ripping at him. It seemed like it was tearing at his very flesh. He turned a second corner from where he had met Ron, and his whole body seemed to collapse.
Draco brought his legs up, wrapping his arms around them. He pushed his head into them and let the tears flow. He began to cry. He let his pains of his past flow away like a river. The pains his father had caused to him fell like a waterfall. He was hit by everything, and it seemed like his emotions had finally snapped. Draco pushed his legs closer as visions of the past began to flow into him…
Every evil memory seemed to flow into him. Every little ounce of an evil thing he did seemed to pull his heart further from his chest. Draco Malfoy the follower of darkness was gone…Draco the poor helpless teenager, lost in the world was all that was left.
Footsteps came down the hall, and stood in front of Draco. A hand with chewed off nails reached down to hand a handkerchief to Draco. Draco looked up unsure of who exactly it was trying to help him. He looked up from tear stained red eyes, "Who?" It didn't surprise him nearly as much as anyone else would have. Rowan was leaning down with a white handkerchief in his hand, and a half-smile plastered on his face.
"Good show," Rowan's voice seemed to gain a difference type of emotion each time Draco heard it. This man seemed to be so different than any other man he had ever seen. He seemed to read his mind, he saw into his inner soul, and he knew exactly what he needed.
Draco looked at him with a slight laugh. Another tear fell down his tear lines, "Thank you." He took the handkerchief and wiped his eyes. He quickly blew his nose afterwards and prepared to hand it back.
"Keep it…don't need your snot." Rowan let out another slight laugh as he held out his hand planning on helping Draco up. His hazel eyes were a deep green, making him look even more like Harry Potter than he had at any other moment.
Draco shoved the handkerchief in his pocket and grabbed Rowan's hand, "Thank you," His voice no longer held as much anger as it did any other time. Rowan pulled his arm back and Draco came up off the ground quite easily, "Why are you helping me?"
"Maybe it's my destiny?" Rowan said with a full smile now on his face. He looked Draco over his black robes seemed to take up a lot of the dirt from the stone floors, "You know, you could do with a nice hot bath."
"I could do with a good nights sleep in someplace that isn't in the dormitories…away from everyone…I need time to think," Draco looked at Rowan as he rubbed his already red eyes. He let out a sigh of what seemed like relief, "Can I call you a friend?"
"Just don't ever call me anything more…" Rowan's face was filled with a serious notion that he hadn't shown Draco before, but his loving smile came back, "I have the perfect place. Harry used it last year for Dumbledore's Army, but at least now it should be open. It's known as the 'Room of Requirement.' And I do believe you should be there…away from everyone."
Rowan looked around as he made his way down the hallway. Draco followed behind like a lost puppy as he did so. Rowan smirked lightly as his own mind asked the room to appear. A silver door appeared in front of him with a slight smile, "This should do you…"
"What is in it?" Draco asked not sure about entering the room.
Rowan pulled the door open to reveal what looked like a small apartment. He looked it over quickly and then with a slight sigh walked inside, "I've been using it as my room, since I don't really have a place to stay. Dumbledore and I talked it over, and I got a room here. We worked out a few kinks and found a bit more about the room. It was created by Rowena Ravenclaw for her as a secret study away from the other founders." Rowan moved deeper into the room and sat in a large arm chair.
"Wicked…" Draco said in lack of any other term. He smirked lightly as he saw the room in its full glory. There were shelves of books and a large bed with silk sheets with a canopy on top of it. He looked at the large silk pillow-cased pillows. All he could think of was how grand it was.
Rowan pointed his fingers towards a door, "That would be the bathroom…" He stood up and moved over to Draco, he put out his hand, "I will bid you adieu until tomorrow."
Draco took his hand and seemed to be lost in a flash:
He took a deep breath as he looked around. He seemed so unsure about something.
He took another breath, and another, but he didn't seem to be getting what he needed.
A large pale face with red slit-like eyes seemed to be glaring at him.
His voice rang out as a deep rasp, "The Order of Isthan will fall…"
Rowan looked at Draco with a slight smile and then left the room quickly, before any questions could be asked. The door closed behind him, locking Draco away from the outside world.
Draco looked at the door for another second unsure about everything that was happening. He took a large deep breath as he sat himself down on the bed. His eyes stayed open as the memory flashed again, and again through his head. The red eyes seemed to look through him. He opened his mouth to mutter four unspeakable words that no one in the wizarding world wanted to speak, "The Dark Lord Voldermort…"