Back again! Thanks for the reviews:
- Voldie On Varsity Track- will do, boss!
- Dreamless-Mermaid- Wow, you are on the right track! Actually, you just inspired me with some ideas for this story! Thanks! And darn straight girl- GO DRACO!
- Roses & Disreputable Dust – thank you for your advice! I'll make sure to do that!
- imadork32489- Ah, my faithful reviewer! You'll find out of this mysterious 'muggle' soon!
Disclaimer: Must I really go through this? Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Let's see: Filipina, short, black hair, brown eyes…nope don't think so. Therefore: don't own nothing! Except for original characters!
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Previously:
Draco began to choke, as he felt an invisible wrap
around his neck. It was Lucius…and with his wizarding powers, choking his son.
He would have done so earlier, just to shut him up. But the fact that Draco
actually exploded at his father: he had never done that before. Lucius sensed a
new found courage as his son continued to scream at him. Of course, Lucius
couldn't allow that to happen.
"Then you leave me no choice…" Lucius merely said in a low voice. With his wand extended to his son, he cried out, "Crucio!"
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Chapter Two: On the Brink of Insanity
Draco's body began to fill with never ending pain. He felt as if his stomach muscles were being ripped to shreds; his arms and legs on fire; his head splitting apart. The pain was horrible…amazingly gruesome. The Great Hall listened as they heard horrible, torturing screams being heard from the other side of the door.
"Stop him!" Pansy had enough courage to stand up and scream. Eyes darted from her to the doors as they could hear Draco screaming with uttermost pain.
"Albus!" Professor McGonagall shrieked as she pounded furiously on the door. Professor Snape was doing his best with his wand, trying to unlock the door, as Professor Dumbledore kept closing and reopening his eyes.
"Just one moment…" Professor Dumbledore said, strangely calm. He closed his eyes, and seemed to concentrating hard.
"Please! Stop, no, stop! Ahhh! Stop it! Please, no! Ahhh! Ahhh!" Draco was heard over and over as his father continued to torture him.
"ALBUS!" Professor McGonagall screamed again. And with a blink of an eye, Professor Dumbledore was gone. Everyone in the Great Hall gasped and heard a scene of invisible commotion as they were sure Lucius had finally seen Professor Dumbledore apparate into view. All of a sudden, Professor McGonagall and Snape were thrown to the ground as the Great Hall doors opened with a flash. Draco flew through, six feet in the air, and landed on the ground with a sickening crunch. Heads turned as they looked at the space in between the doors: Professor Dumbledore was holding out his wand at Lucius' head as Lucius and the other two Death Eaters did the same.
"You should not have come, Lucius …" Professor Dumbledore whispered, half calmly and half menacingly. Draco was heard coughing and heads turned to see the disgusting sight of him turned on his side, coughing up blood.
"Too bad…" Lucius was heard whispering. He snapped his head toward his son. "But don't think you can protect him, Albus. He has disappointed me. And whether you realize it or not, I will come back and kill him…" with a blink, the three wizards apparated.
"How-How did they do that?" Hermione whispered over to Harry and Ron from the Gryffindor table. "You can't apparate in Hogwarts."
"I-I have a feeling that's what Dumbledore was doing when he paused, and kept opening and closing his eyes, and stuff." Harry spoke up. " I think he was taking down the wards for the protection against apparation. That way, with the wards down, he was able to apparate behind the door and save Malfoy."
"Dumbledore, fine. But, the Death Eaters?" Hermione asked again.
"Must've still been down…they caught the wards being down at a pretty damn lucky time…" Ron answered. Harry nodded, and Hermione held a look of disappointment. Then, they turned their eyes to that struggling form on the ground.
"Draco…" Professor McGonagall said soothingly, recovering from the fall, and walked over to him. Draco could feel everyone staring at him, and saw from the corner of his eyes Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Dumbledore surrounding him. He could hear the teacher's chairs scrape against the floor as they stood and began to walk toward the group. Other students also began to stand up, on order to take a closer look. Draco couldn't take all the attention. He didn't understand what had just happened to him: how someone so cruel, his 'so-called' father, actually had the unnerving guts to try and torture him to insanity. He needed air…he needed to get out. He couldn't stay there, he wasn't safe. What if one of the Professors worked for his father? A million lunatic thoughts raced through his mind: an aftershock of the curse.
"Get away from me…GET AWAY! Leave me alone!" Draco screamed. The Professors began to back up as they helplessly saw the young man whirl around in circles, trying hard to wave them off.
"Mr. Malfoy…" Professor Snape courageously took a step forward.
"No…no! I'm not a Malfoy. I can't…I don't want to be! I'm not…" Draco started shaking his head, his eyes rolling wildly.
"Draco…" Professor Dumbledore started, sad that one of his students had to go through what he just did.
"Enough! You're working for him! For my father…you're all working for him. Stop where you are…or I'll…I'll…" Draco said, his eyes darting back and forth. "I'll…kill myself!" He screamed, bringing his wand to his right temple. Professor McGonagall reached out, but Professor Snape grabbed her back. This was serious. Shrieks were heard throughout the Great Hall as the thought of Draco Malfoy killing himself erupted in their minds.
"What's happening to him, Albus?" Professor McGonagall whispered.
"The curse, Minerva. The curse has done enough so that he has become slightly insane…" Professor Dumbledore whispered back, and Professor McGonagall brought a hand to her mouth.
Professor Snape began, "Okay, Draco…just put the wand down. We're not going to take one more step. Everyone, get back, now!" He ordered. The teachers obeyed, taking a step back.
"There, Draco…okay? We're not suffocating you or anything…" Professor Snape said in a low voice. Instantly, the word 'suffocating' brought back the memories of what his father had done to him only moments ago. Draco dropped to the ground, held his hands on his head, and just screamed. Several teachers jumped back and shrieks were heard from the students, as they were unprepared for such a horrible yell. Tears started to form in Draco's eyes and began to roll down.
"Why doesn't he love me?" He screamed. Draco shot up and pointed his wand at Professor Snape. "Huh, Professor Snape, why? WHY!" Draco screamed. Professor Snape stood wide-eyed and taken aback as gasps were heard from crowd, disbelieving that Draco had the courage to threaten a teacher.
"Well…maybe you should figure that out yourself…on your own, Draco…" Professor Snape said quietly, moving to the right. Behind him, Severus revealed the two Great Hall doors still opened, allowing Draco to rush out of there and leave.
Draco seized the opportunity and ran out of the Great Hall. Eyes followed him as he flew out of there, down the stairs, through the Entrance Hall, out the big, wooden doors, and into the darkness, toward the lake.
"Draco, no!" Professor McGonagall screamed after him. Professor Snape held up a hand to silence her. "But…but Severus, he has an unstable mind!"
"No…no, I don't think so. He just needs some alone time to calm his nerves. He'll be back. Don't you worry, Minerva, he'll be back…" Professor Snape replied.
Which led Draco to where he was right now. Tears dried on his face. The memory had ended. He sat on the rock, looking out at the lake still. Draco didn't know what to do. He knew for a fact that he wasn't insane; the side effects of the horrible curse had now subsided. But now, Draco didn't know how to face everyone. He didn't want to go back there. What would his friends think of him? What would his teachers think of him? What would everyone think of him? Besides trying to kill himself, he tried to kill Professor Snape! So much for that damn reputation. Draco breathed out slowly, still unknowing of what to do.
A rustle of a nearby bush distracted him. Draco shot up, and pointed his wand toward the noise. He peered harder and saw that a figure stood by the plant. "Come out and sh-sh-show yourself…" Draco stammered, searching for stableness in his voice and courage in his heart.
The figure took a few steps forward and was soon covered in moonlight. Draco took a harder look and saw two gorgeous green eyes peering out at him. A navy-blue, muggle-hooded sweatshirt covered the figure's face, and the figure's height was a little shorter than Draco's. He examined the face, which he could still not see, and realized the eyes were wet from crying. With a hood to cover him or not, there was no mistaking who it was: Harry Potter.
"What the bloody hell do you want, Potter? And why are wearing that ridiculous muggle sweatshirt?" Draco snapped rudely. Harry reached up to his hood, and tore it off his head. Draco stood, staring, with his mouth open and his eyes wide. He wasn't a…he…at all! It was a girl! Her dark brown hair flew down in curls, being let go of from the hood, and her green eyes bore into Draco's own gray ones. The girl fell forward and collapsed, kneeling on the ground. Draco raced over to her and knelt down besides her, placing a providing arm around her.
She looked up at him, her green eyes an amazing color, and breathed out, "Please…please help me…"
And with that, she collapsed in his arms, faint. Draco held on to the girl and picked her up, the way he would cradle a baby. Now what was he to do?
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And there you have it! Chapter Two of The Victim! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please, review! You know I LOVE reviews! And by the way, I created two new stories. They're called 'The Most Dangerous Game' and 'The Future War'. Check them out! Thanks for all the reviews before! Sorry this was so late. Promise I'll make the updates quicker! Love you all! Mwah!