A/N- Hello! Me again! Thank you all for the reviews! They make me very
happy to read! I hope you are enjoying this story so far! Yeah, also, I
tried to use italics, but Micro. Word didn't put it up in the last chapter,
so sorry about that. Here is Chapter three! LPI3
Chapter 3
Draco sat in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts express. He stared out of the window and watched the scenery fly past, the sun was just peeking up, he was actually going home. He looked down at his left arm where the Dark Mark scab was just about gone, he could still make out a little bit of it. He leaned back onto the soft cushion in the chair.
~~
"About time, what took you so long Draco?" Lucius was waiting for his son as he stepped of the train.
"Sorry Father, I didn't feel like apparating this early in the morning." Draco said walking over to his father.
"Well, you are going to have to," Lucius said and disappeared.
Draco sighed not wanting to keep his father, or Voldemort waiting, he quickly apparated to his manor.
Upon arriving, Draco was greeted by twenty house elves all asking to do things for him. Draco pushed past them and went into his father's study.
"Good morning young mister Malfoy," The haunting voice belonging to Voldemort drawled as Draco entered the room.
He instantly dropped to his knees in a low bow and didn't look up; he didn't want to see those cold eyes any more. He then heard Voldemort laugh; it was as if a pool of cold water had splashed Draco as he heard it.
"Stand up,"
Draco obeyed unable to stop himself.
"Lucius, do you have a room where his training can take place, we will need plenty of room." Voldemort sounded amused with something; maybe he could sense Draco's fear.
"Certainly," Lucius responded, "Down stairs, we have an old dungeon; we could use an expanding charm if it is too small."
Draco glanced up at his father; he was actually going to let his only son do this? Of course, he didn't care what happened to Draco, just as long as he followed in his footsteps. Anger replaced his fear as Draco looked at his father.
Voldemort has his eyes focused on Draco, then he smiled a little, "Yes, we will need a lot of room."
~~
Lucius led them down a number of stairs in the house, and down many secret passages Draco had never seen, in fact, he had never been in this dungeon, he figured it was where Father had sometimes kept illegal magical things to hide from the ministry.
It was a very large room, Draco noticed once they were inside. Voldemort insisted it was too small and expanded it, now it was even larger, Draco couldn't see its end on all sides. It was dark and hot down there, Draco figured the house elves weren't allowed in there, because it was dirty and dust was everywhere. He held in several coughs not wanting to show any weakness, he figured that was what his father would call it.
"Draco, I want to start off with a little test first off, before the real training, just to see how strong you are." Draco didn't like the sound of that, but he nodded when Voldemort requested this.
Voldemort smiled an evil grin, he took out his wand and pointed it at Draco, "Crucio," he muttered.
Draco tensed as the curse hit him, it was becoming harder to breath, he could feel his lungs squeezing together, every bone in his body felt ready to burst, but he didn't dare yell out. He swayed slightly on his feet and then fell to his knees, the air was no longer coming; he bit his lip. "Why would Father let this happen to me?" he thought. He could then taste the blood in his mouth from his lip. When would this stop? His head began to pound, and as he hit the ground, air filled him once more. He gasped and coughed causing much dust on the ground to fly into his eyes.
"That was not even a strong cruciatius Draco; you will have to work on that." Voldemort said.
Draco looked up, blurred images of his father standing in the back by the door having no care in the world, and Voldemort standing with his wand still drawn out.
"Crucio," Voldemort muttered again, this time a little louder.
Draco felt his already pained body burst into flames. He felt his bones breaking inside his chest and he could feel his muscles tightening and pulling. A pool of blood erupted from his mouth as he coughed in pain. "Stop this Father!" He demanded. He forced himself not to think of the pain, but it wasn't helping, he clenched his eyes shut, "Stop," he pleaded. He knew he made a mistake as he felt his spine begin to bend into an arch. His back was going to brake if he didn't stop this.
"Draco, stop this!" The voice in his head demanded.
Draco cursed, he was trying to do something, but he couldn't move, his back was curling into a "U," "Stop it!" he shouted getting together his voice.
The pain stopped. Draco sighed and rolled over onto his unbroken back. He began to breathe heavily wondering if it was time to go back to Hogwarts.
"That was," Voldemort paused for a moment and drew near to Draco's crumbled body, "an improvement." He sighed, "You are clearly not strong enough yet, but give it time; you will be an important member of our side."
Draco let out several more gasps before responding, "T-thank you my Lord," Yeah right, if he lived to be an important member of their side.
"Now get up," Voldemort turned and walked back over to where Lucius was quietly standing.
Draco slowly opened his eyes, stand up? That was the last thing on his mind. But he slowly lifted himself up onto his elbows, it was painful and he heard several ribs crack just from the pressure, but soon he was in a sitting position. He looked over at the two men by the door, they were talking quietly. Draco scowled at his father, now he understood why he had always hated him.
"Well, stand up boy," Lucius scolded as he looked over at Draco and saw him staring at them.
Draco smirked, "Yes Father," he said as clambered to his feet. Black dots blurred his vision as he stood and he felt dizzy and ready to collapse, but he stood tall and proud, or he hoped that was what he looked like.
"Now Draco, I wanted to test you on fears," Voldemort turned back to Draco his wand out and ready for anything.
This made no sense to Draco, what would teaching him on fears do anything; but soon he got his answer.
"I have been informed that in your third year you learned of boggarts, am I correct?" Voldemort asked.
Draco nodded, "Yes, that is correct,"
"Good, you will find that this is much like a boggart, only you can not change its form, it will continue to haunt you until you have enough strength to destroy it. It is very useful when training Death Eaters, because after going through this, fears are out of the question."
Draco noticed his father slowly nodding and couldn't help but wonder what his father's fear was. Still, he didn't like the sound of his greatest fear being shown in front of the Dark Lord and his father. What would it be?
If it was possible for the room to become even darker than it was, it did. Draco could no longer see Voldemort or his father, instead a large shadow that came from the end of Voldemort's wand as he muttered an incantation for this boggart creature.
Draco got colder he now realized what his fear was going to be. Suddenly, the room was lit up, and a hundred students from his school were there. They all stood around him in a circle. He recognized a few of them; Harry, Ron, and Hermione were one of the ones standing in the front. His breathing increased as all the eyes bore into his flesh. He looked around, many people were staring at him, and others were whispering some were looking frightened. Then he looked down at his feet, the girl he had murdered that night was lying motionless at his feet.
He stared at her for a moment, and then a burning sensation erupted in his left arm. He let out a gasp from the sudden sharpness and looked at it. The Dark Mark glowed bright red on his arm.
"I told you he was a Death Eater," Ron burst out loudly. Many more students stepped back.
"Someone call the ministry," A girl shouted.
Draco couldn't find his voice; he looked from the students to the mark on his arm, to the dead girl at his feet. He shook his head slowly, what was going on?
Then the crowed parted a little and Dumbledore stepped though, he scowled at Draco, "Mr. Malfoy, I hope you understand the seriousness of this, you will be handed over to the ministry at once."
"No, I didn't do it," Draco whispered. He looked around again, his heart beating faster.
"I bet they're going to hand him over to the Dementors," A boy from Hufflepuff laughed.
Draco narrowed his eyes at the boy before pushing away from the crowed and running down the hall. He heard shouts behind him and knew several students were going to chase him. "What is going on?" He asked himself turning a corner, only to find him self wishing he hadn't turned.
There standing in the abandoned wing, several Dementors stood. Draco stood glued to the spot for a moment, which was a moment of an advantage to his chasers. Harry and Ron grabbed his arms and held him roughly to the spot. Draco struggled at their grip, but couldn't get loose, "You don't understand!" he yelled.
"What's not to understand Malfoy, you murdered that girl, we saw you do it, and now it's your turn, you disgusting Death Eater." Harry growled.
The Dementors proceeded to come to him. Draco struggled more as they grew closer. "I didn't want to become a Death Eater, my father made me!" Draco yelled.
"Yeah right," Ron smirked at him.
The first Dementor stood now inches from Draco and slowly pulled off its hood.
Draco yelled and collapsed onto the ground. The room became dark again, and as Draco looked around, no students or Dementors were present.
"Was that hard?" Draco looked up into the face of Voldemort, peer displeasure on his face.
"I will get it next time my lord," Draco reassured and pushed himself to his feet. His worst fear was having people he knew find out he was a Death Eater, and that he killed that girl. He wondered if his father had heard anything he had said. "I didn't want to become a Death Eater, my father made me!"
"Lucius, I wish to continue his training, same place next weekend," Voldemort said his eyes still glaring at Draco.
"Of coarse my lord, I will work something out with his headmaster." Lucius responded giving a quick bow of his head.
"You wait Draco, one day I believe you will be a great and feared wizard, if you practice at it." Voldemort turned and strode out of the door followed closely by Lucius, who gave Draco a quick glance before exiting.
The door closed behind them; "maybe I don't want to be a great and feared wizard," Draco said quietly getting to his feet. He sighed frustrated with everything he was expected to do and walked out of the room.
~~
"Does young master Malfoy need anything sir?"
Draco returned to his room and was lying on his back when a house elf walked in. Draco looked over at it, "No, I thought I said to leave me alone." He spat.
The house elf squealed, "Of coarse sir, Misty is sorry sir," with that the house elf turned and closed the door behind her.
Draco growled through clenched teeth. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked over to a large mirror on his wall. He took of his shirt and examined his reflected torso. One of his ribs pushed out further than the others, probably a broken one, and bruises scattered across his chest. Opened cuts traced around his stomach and on his arms. He cursed, the concealing potion he had taken three hours before had now worn off, he would have to wait till he got to school for more.
He had never been crucioed twice in one go before. He turned around and looked at the middle of his back where his spine had nearly been broken. A long red line spread over the bone and huge bruises lined it as well.
Draco put his shirt back on and slumped back to his bed, but before he got there, his mother opened the door, "Draco," she said looking over at her son, "Are you ready to go back to school?" she asked.
Draco forced a smile, "Sure, ready when ever," he would much have preferred to rest. But he gathered his cloak and put it on. He then trudged down the stairs into the living room where his mother was.
"Good bye Draco," she said with a petite smile on her face.
"Yeah, bye," Draco said quietly and apparated into Hogsmeade, he then caught the train to Hogwarts and stood in front of the castle in a matter of minutes. The sun was just setting and Draco figured everyone was in the Great Hall eating dinner. He smiled, no one could get in his way as he made another potion in the potions room. He walked slowly clutching his stomach, up the stone steps and into the castle.
"Well, I thought you weren't going to show,"
Draco jumped and turned to see Snape leaning casually on the wall, "professor, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Professor Dumbledore wanted me to meet you, wanted to know if everything was alright." Snape's black beady eyes glinted as he said this.
Draco pulled his cloak tighter around him, "Of coarse everything is fine, Mum was just sick, didn't know if she would make it." He lied.
"Draco, you can tell me the truth once in a while you know," Snape said his voice didn't sound too sympathetic, but it worked for Draco, "I know about Death Eaters, and Voldemort's plans."
"Yes, I know," Draco said quickly, he knew Snape and Lucius were friends, he didn't want to say anything wrong and have Snape repeat it to him.
Snape sighed, "Alright," he slowly said, Draco thought maybe he wouldn't believe him, "I will see you tonight in detention then," with that he swept away.
Detention, how could he have forgotten? Another night with Hermione Granger; he frowned a look of disgust on his face, "that sounded wrong." He thought and quickly shook it out of his head.
~~
Hermione walked slowly down to the dungeons that night after she was done with her dinner. She hadn't seen Draco all day, which meant he was either inside his dorm all day, or he wasn't even in Hogwarts. She sighed, if he was in there, she didn't want to have to face him, a Death Eater in training, which was what he was.
"Well, I thought you wouldn't show,"
Hermione stopped, that was Snape's voice. She looked out behind a stone statue of an old witch and spotted Snape and Draco. Her heart sank; she could clearly see a large black mark on the back of Draco's neck partially hidden by his cloak. She listened closely to their conversation.
"Professor, what are you doing here?" Draco asked, he had clearly been startled by Snape.
"Professor Dumbledore wanted me to meet you, wanted to know if everything was alright." Snape responded.
Hermione looked around making sure no one was there. She bit her lip and turned back to the conversation, was she finally going to find out about Draco?
Draco pulled his cloak tighter around him, "Of coarse everything is fine, Mum was just sick, didn't know if she would make it."
Hermione raised her eyebrows; that had to be lie, right? Or maybe it was true, and he wasn't taking his training yet.
"Draco, you can tell me the truth once in a while you know," Snape continued "I know about Death Eaters, and Voldemort's plans."
A hand reached out and touched Hermione on the shoulder. She jumped and placed a hand over her mouth so she wouldn't yell out. She turned slowly and met Dumbledore; he was smiling down at her. He motioned for her to follow him.
Hermione followed; a weird feeling was in her stomach, she couldn't figure out if it was because she was worried about Draco, or if she was worried about herself. Dumbledore ended up leading her to his office. They climbed the stone steps behind the gargoyle, and entered his large office area.
"You may sit down Miss. Granger," Dumbledore said politely as he himself sat down behind his desk.
Hermione seated herself uncomfortably in a cushioned chair in front of the desk, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop Professor, I just didn't want to interrupt them," she blurted.
Dumbledore raised a hand slowly to silence her, "I believe that you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," he paused and Hermione lowered her head, "however, I would ask you if you would please not repeat anything you heard."
"I really didn't hear much, I actually don't know much," Hermione said trying to sound convincing.
"What do you know Miss. Granger?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes gleamed behind his half moon spectacles.
Hermione hesitated, "Well," she paused thinking about what she did know, "They're really more like guesses, but I think Mal-err, Draco is a Death Eater, and I think he went to train with Voldemort today." She paused, "They're only guesses though sir."
Dumbledore nodded, "Your presumptions would be correct Miss Granger,"
"But professor," Hermione asked, "why are you telling me this?"
"Because Miss Granger, as a member of the Order, I believe you have a right to know, maybe you can do something,"
Hermione thought, she had now been a "member" of the Order for a year now, but her, Harry, and Ron were never allowed to do secret work for it. "Professor," she asked curiously, "What could I do to help Draco; we aren't the best of friends if you haven't noticed."
"And why should that stop you from helping him?" Dumbledore asked.
Hermione thought about that, "Alright, how can I help him?"
Dumbledore smiled sweetly, "I would like you to figure that out by yourself,"
"Maybe Draco doesn't want help," Hermione suggested.
"Maybe he doesn't want to admit that he does," Dumbledore said, "From what Severus has informed me on, Lucius Malfoy has always been making decisions for his son, and as far as I can tell Draco did not even know when he was going to become a Death Eater this soon."
Hermione bit her lip, how could anyone do something like that to their son; a Malfoy of course. She nodded to Dumbledore, "I will help Draco as best I can, but he may not like it much."
Dumbledore smiled, "I think he might just need a friend during this, I can not stand to see another young child in Hogwarts become something dangerous. It is a horrible fate that Draco may be facing."
~~
Hermione walked slowly down the hall, she knew she was going to be late again to detention, but she was too busy thinking about how she was going to pull something like this off, Harry and Ron would never understand, and everyone else would think she was going insane. She sighed, this wasn't going to work. But she couldn't just disappoint Dumbledore, he needed her to do a job for him, maybe he had plans for Draco.
She pushed open the door and walked into the room. Snape was already gone and Draco was sitting behind a desk pouring over pieces of parchment. He looked up and scowled as Hermione walked in, "I thought you weren't going to show." He said with his usual bored voice.
Hermione took a deep breath, here it goes, "Well, I am here now, what did I miss?" she smiled awkwardly.
Draco glared at her, and after a moment of studying her expression he pointed to a large stack of the essays they had written in class with his quill pen. He continued to stare at her as she sat down next to him; he had a look of confusion mixed with hatred.
Hermione shifted in her seat, she could feel Draco's eyes on her, it wasn't very comforting, "I think this essay was one of the easiest ones we have had, didn't you think so?" She asked and looked at Draco quickly and then turned back down to the paper.
Draco dropped his jaw a little, he narrowed his eyes at Hermione, "What is wrong with you?" he asked.
Hermione forced out a small laugh, "Nothing, I am just trying to start some friendly conversation," this wasn't going to work.
"Well stop," Draco spat at her.
Hermione pursed her lips, "Listen Draco," she paused waiting for him to curse her, but when he didn't do anything, she continued, "I just wanted to talk to you for a while, you know, we are in here stuck for another four detentions together, we might as well get used to each other."
Draco laughed, "You want to talk to me do you?" he asked, "All right, what would you like to talk about, the weather was just wonderful today wasn't it?" He said sarcastically.
Hermione, "I'm serious Draco," she said.
"Yeah, so am I," Draco grumbled looking back down at his paper.
Hermione sighed and looked down at her own paper.
They sat in silence for a while, until Hermione decided to give it a second go.
"Umm, Draco, I can't read this word, it looks smudged to me, do you know what it is?" She asked and pushed the paper under Draco's nose.
Draco pushed it away, "I really couldn't care," he said.
"Please Draco," Hermione asked sweetly; she knew she probably was bothering him more than she was helping him.
Draco sighed heavily and looked at the parchment, "It looks like Lacewing, now leave me alone."
Hermione smiled, "I would never have figured that, and you would have been marked down," she pointed to his name on the paper.
Draco rolled his eyes, "I never knew you were this annoying," he said.
"Oh no, I never am, I just act differently around people I am not really acquainted to." She paused, "So, how was your day Draco?" she probably shouldn't have asked, knowing that the bruise on his back was pretty resent.
Draco was silent for a moment, "Don't call me Draco," he finally said quietly.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Hermione sighed.
"What are you trying to do?" Draco suddenly asked raising his voice.
Hermione looked at him, "what, am I not allowed to be nice?"
Draco looked into her eyes, "Not to me," he responded.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "I just wanted to talk to you, and you look like you could use someone to talk to right now."
"Well I don't," Draco snapped almost instantly at her, his eyes narrowed with a deathly stare.
Hermione held up her hands defensively, "Yeah, sure, I am only saying that if you ever did need anyone, I am here, I am really good with helping people through tough times in their life, just ask my friend Ginny, she-"
"Why do you think I need someone to talk to?" Draco cut in.
Hermione looked at him; she saw sadness in his usually cold gray eyes just for a moment, "I really do care Draco," she said quietly.
Draco bit his lip, it seemed to Hermione that he was about to spill his guts to her, when suddenly Snape walked in, "Times up," he said.
Draco jumped up and grabbed his cloak from the chair and brushed out of the room just as Hermione began to stand up. She said good night to Snape, who completely ignored her, and walked slowly out of the room after Draco. However he must have ran back to his common room, because he was nowhere in sight. She sighed sadly and walked back to the Gryffindor common room.
Draco stood in the shadows and watched as Hermione walked past his hiding place. He heard her sigh and turn a corner. He slide down the wall and sat with his knees pressed against his chest. This position hurt, but he didn't want anyone to find him there. He sat in silence without moving for quite some time. No one ever wanted to talk to him about what he felt, he was taught to just let things happen and keep his mouth shut.
~~
Draco looked out a window down the hall and saw the sun begin to rise. He forced himself up trying to ignore the pain on his body. He stood shakily for a moment and then strode down the hall to the Slytherin common room.
"Password?" The painting of a strong wizard yawned when Draco woke him up.
"Octus nobus," Draco mumbled. The portrait swung open and Draco walked through. The common room was a bit cold, the house elves hadn't been by to light the fires yet, and it being half way under the lake added more than the unnecessary coldness. However Draco slumped over to one of the couches and sprawled himself out onto it. He closed his eyes and was asleep within minutes.
Draco looked around; he was once again in the muggle village. Everything was the same, Voldemort and all the Death Eaters including his father were there, the houses were all burning. People were screaming and crying. Then Voldemort caught site of him standing there doing nothing. He walked over to him.
"Would you like to have something to do boy?" he asked and without letting Draco answer he called over Wormtail.
Draco's father was watching now. He was surrounded; there was nowhere to escape for Draco. Then Wormtail dragged over a screaming girl with brown flowing hair.
Draco's heart stopped, it was Hermione. Wormtail threw Hermione at Draco's feet. She looked up at him, "Please, don't kill me," she pleaded tears streaming down her face.
Draco's breathing increased, he couldn't kill her, he knew who she was and he couldn't kill her, this should have been easy for him.
"Go on then, do something." Lucius ordered.
Draco didn't take his eyes off of her, "Please Draco, don't kill me." She continued to plead.
Voldemort put an icy hand onto Draco's shoulder; he pointed his wand at Hermione, "Do something, or I will," he said coldly and increased his grip on Draco's shoulder.
"No Draco, you are way better than this, you don't have to do anything you don't want to," Hermione sat up only to be kicked back down by Lucius.
"I won't,"
Everyone around went silent and turned to Draco, "What?" Lucius asked his voice disbelieving and harsh.
"I won't do it," Draco said looking around at all the people who could kill him right now.
Hermione smiled up at him, while everyone else narrowed their eyes at him, but Draco didn't care.
"You can't make me kill Hermione, because I won't do it." He said in a voice he didn't know he had.
Voldemort pushed Draco aside and pointed his wand down at Hermione, "Avada Kedavra," he said.
Draco watched Hermione's head hit the ground under her; her eyes went cold and lifeless. Voldemort then rounded on Draco, "You will find that when I order one of my Death Eaters to do something, I expect it done," He pointed his wand at Draco, "Crucio," he whispered in the cold voice.
Draco's chest exploded in pain and he sat bolt up. He heard a shriek and then a thump. He panted and looked down at the floor, Pansy sat on the floor, "Pansy?" he asked.
Pansy smiled at him, "I wasn't expecting to find you down here, I tried to wake you up, but you went all creepy when I nudged you in the chest, you really startled me you know."
Draco looked at her and then leaned back down, he had never had a dream with Hermione in it before, and it was strange, why now?
"Are you all right Dracy?" Pansy asked placing a cold hand onto his forehead.
Draco pushed it off, "I'm fine, I just don't like people waking me up early." He pushed himself off of the couch and began to walk out of the room.
"Wait up, I'll come with you." Pansy called and ran up with him. She grabbed onto his arm and clung to it. Draco didn't even try to get her off, he had before, and every time she did it the harder it was to get her off.
They walked down the hall and then ran into non other than the wonder Trio themselves. The five of them stopped for a moment and glared at each other. Draco looked at Hermione, his dream was so real, and she had been so real. He quickly looked away as she caught his eye.
"Well, tell them to move out of our way Dracy," Pansy whined.
"Yeah Dracy, tell us to move." Sniggered Ron, Harry also began to silently laugh.
"Sorry Weasley, but it just sounds wrong when you say it like that." Draco said trying to keep his eyes off of Hermione, but they kept moving to her as if by a magnetic force.
Hermione must have realized that if they didn't leave the others would suspect something, because she pulled on Harry's cloak. "Come on Harry," she said. Harry shrugged and followed her, Ron reluctantly did the same.
"I swear, those stupid excuses for wizards, I don't think they should be allowed to even come within a foot of a Slytherin," Pansy went on; Draco rolled his eyes and continued to walk into the Great Hall, Pansy clinging onto him. "And that Hermione Granger girl," Draco felt his heart skip a beat, "She should be drug out into the street and Crucioed on the spot."
Draco yanked his arm away from Pansy startling her again, "I think you should be Crucioed." He spat and walked away.
Pansy stood rooted to the spot for a moment, but then ran to Malfoy again, "How was your training by the way?" she asked changing the subject.
Draco growled, "Don't you get it?" he yelled at her and stormed back out of the Great Hall.
A/N: Well, that is another chapter, in the next one; Draco may open up a bit, not much, but a little. I always take suggestions, and usually I use them, so if anyone would like something to happen, just ask it! Thank you! LPI3
Chapter 3
Draco sat in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts express. He stared out of the window and watched the scenery fly past, the sun was just peeking up, he was actually going home. He looked down at his left arm where the Dark Mark scab was just about gone, he could still make out a little bit of it. He leaned back onto the soft cushion in the chair.
~~
"About time, what took you so long Draco?" Lucius was waiting for his son as he stepped of the train.
"Sorry Father, I didn't feel like apparating this early in the morning." Draco said walking over to his father.
"Well, you are going to have to," Lucius said and disappeared.
Draco sighed not wanting to keep his father, or Voldemort waiting, he quickly apparated to his manor.
Upon arriving, Draco was greeted by twenty house elves all asking to do things for him. Draco pushed past them and went into his father's study.
"Good morning young mister Malfoy," The haunting voice belonging to Voldemort drawled as Draco entered the room.
He instantly dropped to his knees in a low bow and didn't look up; he didn't want to see those cold eyes any more. He then heard Voldemort laugh; it was as if a pool of cold water had splashed Draco as he heard it.
"Stand up,"
Draco obeyed unable to stop himself.
"Lucius, do you have a room where his training can take place, we will need plenty of room." Voldemort sounded amused with something; maybe he could sense Draco's fear.
"Certainly," Lucius responded, "Down stairs, we have an old dungeon; we could use an expanding charm if it is too small."
Draco glanced up at his father; he was actually going to let his only son do this? Of course, he didn't care what happened to Draco, just as long as he followed in his footsteps. Anger replaced his fear as Draco looked at his father.
Voldemort has his eyes focused on Draco, then he smiled a little, "Yes, we will need a lot of room."
~~
Lucius led them down a number of stairs in the house, and down many secret passages Draco had never seen, in fact, he had never been in this dungeon, he figured it was where Father had sometimes kept illegal magical things to hide from the ministry.
It was a very large room, Draco noticed once they were inside. Voldemort insisted it was too small and expanded it, now it was even larger, Draco couldn't see its end on all sides. It was dark and hot down there, Draco figured the house elves weren't allowed in there, because it was dirty and dust was everywhere. He held in several coughs not wanting to show any weakness, he figured that was what his father would call it.
"Draco, I want to start off with a little test first off, before the real training, just to see how strong you are." Draco didn't like the sound of that, but he nodded when Voldemort requested this.
Voldemort smiled an evil grin, he took out his wand and pointed it at Draco, "Crucio," he muttered.
Draco tensed as the curse hit him, it was becoming harder to breath, he could feel his lungs squeezing together, every bone in his body felt ready to burst, but he didn't dare yell out. He swayed slightly on his feet and then fell to his knees, the air was no longer coming; he bit his lip. "Why would Father let this happen to me?" he thought. He could then taste the blood in his mouth from his lip. When would this stop? His head began to pound, and as he hit the ground, air filled him once more. He gasped and coughed causing much dust on the ground to fly into his eyes.
"That was not even a strong cruciatius Draco; you will have to work on that." Voldemort said.
Draco looked up, blurred images of his father standing in the back by the door having no care in the world, and Voldemort standing with his wand still drawn out.
"Crucio," Voldemort muttered again, this time a little louder.
Draco felt his already pained body burst into flames. He felt his bones breaking inside his chest and he could feel his muscles tightening and pulling. A pool of blood erupted from his mouth as he coughed in pain. "Stop this Father!" He demanded. He forced himself not to think of the pain, but it wasn't helping, he clenched his eyes shut, "Stop," he pleaded. He knew he made a mistake as he felt his spine begin to bend into an arch. His back was going to brake if he didn't stop this.
"Draco, stop this!" The voice in his head demanded.
Draco cursed, he was trying to do something, but he couldn't move, his back was curling into a "U," "Stop it!" he shouted getting together his voice.
The pain stopped. Draco sighed and rolled over onto his unbroken back. He began to breathe heavily wondering if it was time to go back to Hogwarts.
"That was," Voldemort paused for a moment and drew near to Draco's crumbled body, "an improvement." He sighed, "You are clearly not strong enough yet, but give it time; you will be an important member of our side."
Draco let out several more gasps before responding, "T-thank you my Lord," Yeah right, if he lived to be an important member of their side.
"Now get up," Voldemort turned and walked back over to where Lucius was quietly standing.
Draco slowly opened his eyes, stand up? That was the last thing on his mind. But he slowly lifted himself up onto his elbows, it was painful and he heard several ribs crack just from the pressure, but soon he was in a sitting position. He looked over at the two men by the door, they were talking quietly. Draco scowled at his father, now he understood why he had always hated him.
"Well, stand up boy," Lucius scolded as he looked over at Draco and saw him staring at them.
Draco smirked, "Yes Father," he said as clambered to his feet. Black dots blurred his vision as he stood and he felt dizzy and ready to collapse, but he stood tall and proud, or he hoped that was what he looked like.
"Now Draco, I wanted to test you on fears," Voldemort turned back to Draco his wand out and ready for anything.
This made no sense to Draco, what would teaching him on fears do anything; but soon he got his answer.
"I have been informed that in your third year you learned of boggarts, am I correct?" Voldemort asked.
Draco nodded, "Yes, that is correct,"
"Good, you will find that this is much like a boggart, only you can not change its form, it will continue to haunt you until you have enough strength to destroy it. It is very useful when training Death Eaters, because after going through this, fears are out of the question."
Draco noticed his father slowly nodding and couldn't help but wonder what his father's fear was. Still, he didn't like the sound of his greatest fear being shown in front of the Dark Lord and his father. What would it be?
If it was possible for the room to become even darker than it was, it did. Draco could no longer see Voldemort or his father, instead a large shadow that came from the end of Voldemort's wand as he muttered an incantation for this boggart creature.
Draco got colder he now realized what his fear was going to be. Suddenly, the room was lit up, and a hundred students from his school were there. They all stood around him in a circle. He recognized a few of them; Harry, Ron, and Hermione were one of the ones standing in the front. His breathing increased as all the eyes bore into his flesh. He looked around, many people were staring at him, and others were whispering some were looking frightened. Then he looked down at his feet, the girl he had murdered that night was lying motionless at his feet.
He stared at her for a moment, and then a burning sensation erupted in his left arm. He let out a gasp from the sudden sharpness and looked at it. The Dark Mark glowed bright red on his arm.
"I told you he was a Death Eater," Ron burst out loudly. Many more students stepped back.
"Someone call the ministry," A girl shouted.
Draco couldn't find his voice; he looked from the students to the mark on his arm, to the dead girl at his feet. He shook his head slowly, what was going on?
Then the crowed parted a little and Dumbledore stepped though, he scowled at Draco, "Mr. Malfoy, I hope you understand the seriousness of this, you will be handed over to the ministry at once."
"No, I didn't do it," Draco whispered. He looked around again, his heart beating faster.
"I bet they're going to hand him over to the Dementors," A boy from Hufflepuff laughed.
Draco narrowed his eyes at the boy before pushing away from the crowed and running down the hall. He heard shouts behind him and knew several students were going to chase him. "What is going on?" He asked himself turning a corner, only to find him self wishing he hadn't turned.
There standing in the abandoned wing, several Dementors stood. Draco stood glued to the spot for a moment, which was a moment of an advantage to his chasers. Harry and Ron grabbed his arms and held him roughly to the spot. Draco struggled at their grip, but couldn't get loose, "You don't understand!" he yelled.
"What's not to understand Malfoy, you murdered that girl, we saw you do it, and now it's your turn, you disgusting Death Eater." Harry growled.
The Dementors proceeded to come to him. Draco struggled more as they grew closer. "I didn't want to become a Death Eater, my father made me!" Draco yelled.
"Yeah right," Ron smirked at him.
The first Dementor stood now inches from Draco and slowly pulled off its hood.
Draco yelled and collapsed onto the ground. The room became dark again, and as Draco looked around, no students or Dementors were present.
"Was that hard?" Draco looked up into the face of Voldemort, peer displeasure on his face.
"I will get it next time my lord," Draco reassured and pushed himself to his feet. His worst fear was having people he knew find out he was a Death Eater, and that he killed that girl. He wondered if his father had heard anything he had said. "I didn't want to become a Death Eater, my father made me!"
"Lucius, I wish to continue his training, same place next weekend," Voldemort said his eyes still glaring at Draco.
"Of coarse my lord, I will work something out with his headmaster." Lucius responded giving a quick bow of his head.
"You wait Draco, one day I believe you will be a great and feared wizard, if you practice at it." Voldemort turned and strode out of the door followed closely by Lucius, who gave Draco a quick glance before exiting.
The door closed behind them; "maybe I don't want to be a great and feared wizard," Draco said quietly getting to his feet. He sighed frustrated with everything he was expected to do and walked out of the room.
~~
"Does young master Malfoy need anything sir?"
Draco returned to his room and was lying on his back when a house elf walked in. Draco looked over at it, "No, I thought I said to leave me alone." He spat.
The house elf squealed, "Of coarse sir, Misty is sorry sir," with that the house elf turned and closed the door behind her.
Draco growled through clenched teeth. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked over to a large mirror on his wall. He took of his shirt and examined his reflected torso. One of his ribs pushed out further than the others, probably a broken one, and bruises scattered across his chest. Opened cuts traced around his stomach and on his arms. He cursed, the concealing potion he had taken three hours before had now worn off, he would have to wait till he got to school for more.
He had never been crucioed twice in one go before. He turned around and looked at the middle of his back where his spine had nearly been broken. A long red line spread over the bone and huge bruises lined it as well.
Draco put his shirt back on and slumped back to his bed, but before he got there, his mother opened the door, "Draco," she said looking over at her son, "Are you ready to go back to school?" she asked.
Draco forced a smile, "Sure, ready when ever," he would much have preferred to rest. But he gathered his cloak and put it on. He then trudged down the stairs into the living room where his mother was.
"Good bye Draco," she said with a petite smile on her face.
"Yeah, bye," Draco said quietly and apparated into Hogsmeade, he then caught the train to Hogwarts and stood in front of the castle in a matter of minutes. The sun was just setting and Draco figured everyone was in the Great Hall eating dinner. He smiled, no one could get in his way as he made another potion in the potions room. He walked slowly clutching his stomach, up the stone steps and into the castle.
"Well, I thought you weren't going to show,"
Draco jumped and turned to see Snape leaning casually on the wall, "professor, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Professor Dumbledore wanted me to meet you, wanted to know if everything was alright." Snape's black beady eyes glinted as he said this.
Draco pulled his cloak tighter around him, "Of coarse everything is fine, Mum was just sick, didn't know if she would make it." He lied.
"Draco, you can tell me the truth once in a while you know," Snape said his voice didn't sound too sympathetic, but it worked for Draco, "I know about Death Eaters, and Voldemort's plans."
"Yes, I know," Draco said quickly, he knew Snape and Lucius were friends, he didn't want to say anything wrong and have Snape repeat it to him.
Snape sighed, "Alright," he slowly said, Draco thought maybe he wouldn't believe him, "I will see you tonight in detention then," with that he swept away.
Detention, how could he have forgotten? Another night with Hermione Granger; he frowned a look of disgust on his face, "that sounded wrong." He thought and quickly shook it out of his head.
~~
Hermione walked slowly down to the dungeons that night after she was done with her dinner. She hadn't seen Draco all day, which meant he was either inside his dorm all day, or he wasn't even in Hogwarts. She sighed, if he was in there, she didn't want to have to face him, a Death Eater in training, which was what he was.
"Well, I thought you wouldn't show,"
Hermione stopped, that was Snape's voice. She looked out behind a stone statue of an old witch and spotted Snape and Draco. Her heart sank; she could clearly see a large black mark on the back of Draco's neck partially hidden by his cloak. She listened closely to their conversation.
"Professor, what are you doing here?" Draco asked, he had clearly been startled by Snape.
"Professor Dumbledore wanted me to meet you, wanted to know if everything was alright." Snape responded.
Hermione looked around making sure no one was there. She bit her lip and turned back to the conversation, was she finally going to find out about Draco?
Draco pulled his cloak tighter around him, "Of coarse everything is fine, Mum was just sick, didn't know if she would make it."
Hermione raised her eyebrows; that had to be lie, right? Or maybe it was true, and he wasn't taking his training yet.
"Draco, you can tell me the truth once in a while you know," Snape continued "I know about Death Eaters, and Voldemort's plans."
A hand reached out and touched Hermione on the shoulder. She jumped and placed a hand over her mouth so she wouldn't yell out. She turned slowly and met Dumbledore; he was smiling down at her. He motioned for her to follow him.
Hermione followed; a weird feeling was in her stomach, she couldn't figure out if it was because she was worried about Draco, or if she was worried about herself. Dumbledore ended up leading her to his office. They climbed the stone steps behind the gargoyle, and entered his large office area.
"You may sit down Miss. Granger," Dumbledore said politely as he himself sat down behind his desk.
Hermione seated herself uncomfortably in a cushioned chair in front of the desk, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop Professor, I just didn't want to interrupt them," she blurted.
Dumbledore raised a hand slowly to silence her, "I believe that you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," he paused and Hermione lowered her head, "however, I would ask you if you would please not repeat anything you heard."
"I really didn't hear much, I actually don't know much," Hermione said trying to sound convincing.
"What do you know Miss. Granger?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes gleamed behind his half moon spectacles.
Hermione hesitated, "Well," she paused thinking about what she did know, "They're really more like guesses, but I think Mal-err, Draco is a Death Eater, and I think he went to train with Voldemort today." She paused, "They're only guesses though sir."
Dumbledore nodded, "Your presumptions would be correct Miss Granger,"
"But professor," Hermione asked, "why are you telling me this?"
"Because Miss Granger, as a member of the Order, I believe you have a right to know, maybe you can do something,"
Hermione thought, she had now been a "member" of the Order for a year now, but her, Harry, and Ron were never allowed to do secret work for it. "Professor," she asked curiously, "What could I do to help Draco; we aren't the best of friends if you haven't noticed."
"And why should that stop you from helping him?" Dumbledore asked.
Hermione thought about that, "Alright, how can I help him?"
Dumbledore smiled sweetly, "I would like you to figure that out by yourself,"
"Maybe Draco doesn't want help," Hermione suggested.
"Maybe he doesn't want to admit that he does," Dumbledore said, "From what Severus has informed me on, Lucius Malfoy has always been making decisions for his son, and as far as I can tell Draco did not even know when he was going to become a Death Eater this soon."
Hermione bit her lip, how could anyone do something like that to their son; a Malfoy of course. She nodded to Dumbledore, "I will help Draco as best I can, but he may not like it much."
Dumbledore smiled, "I think he might just need a friend during this, I can not stand to see another young child in Hogwarts become something dangerous. It is a horrible fate that Draco may be facing."
~~
Hermione walked slowly down the hall, she knew she was going to be late again to detention, but she was too busy thinking about how she was going to pull something like this off, Harry and Ron would never understand, and everyone else would think she was going insane. She sighed, this wasn't going to work. But she couldn't just disappoint Dumbledore, he needed her to do a job for him, maybe he had plans for Draco.
She pushed open the door and walked into the room. Snape was already gone and Draco was sitting behind a desk pouring over pieces of parchment. He looked up and scowled as Hermione walked in, "I thought you weren't going to show." He said with his usual bored voice.
Hermione took a deep breath, here it goes, "Well, I am here now, what did I miss?" she smiled awkwardly.
Draco glared at her, and after a moment of studying her expression he pointed to a large stack of the essays they had written in class with his quill pen. He continued to stare at her as she sat down next to him; he had a look of confusion mixed with hatred.
Hermione shifted in her seat, she could feel Draco's eyes on her, it wasn't very comforting, "I think this essay was one of the easiest ones we have had, didn't you think so?" She asked and looked at Draco quickly and then turned back down to the paper.
Draco dropped his jaw a little, he narrowed his eyes at Hermione, "What is wrong with you?" he asked.
Hermione forced out a small laugh, "Nothing, I am just trying to start some friendly conversation," this wasn't going to work.
"Well stop," Draco spat at her.
Hermione pursed her lips, "Listen Draco," she paused waiting for him to curse her, but when he didn't do anything, she continued, "I just wanted to talk to you for a while, you know, we are in here stuck for another four detentions together, we might as well get used to each other."
Draco laughed, "You want to talk to me do you?" he asked, "All right, what would you like to talk about, the weather was just wonderful today wasn't it?" He said sarcastically.
Hermione, "I'm serious Draco," she said.
"Yeah, so am I," Draco grumbled looking back down at his paper.
Hermione sighed and looked down at her own paper.
They sat in silence for a while, until Hermione decided to give it a second go.
"Umm, Draco, I can't read this word, it looks smudged to me, do you know what it is?" She asked and pushed the paper under Draco's nose.
Draco pushed it away, "I really couldn't care," he said.
"Please Draco," Hermione asked sweetly; she knew she probably was bothering him more than she was helping him.
Draco sighed heavily and looked at the parchment, "It looks like Lacewing, now leave me alone."
Hermione smiled, "I would never have figured that, and you would have been marked down," she pointed to his name on the paper.
Draco rolled his eyes, "I never knew you were this annoying," he said.
"Oh no, I never am, I just act differently around people I am not really acquainted to." She paused, "So, how was your day Draco?" she probably shouldn't have asked, knowing that the bruise on his back was pretty resent.
Draco was silent for a moment, "Don't call me Draco," he finally said quietly.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Hermione sighed.
"What are you trying to do?" Draco suddenly asked raising his voice.
Hermione looked at him, "what, am I not allowed to be nice?"
Draco looked into her eyes, "Not to me," he responded.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "I just wanted to talk to you, and you look like you could use someone to talk to right now."
"Well I don't," Draco snapped almost instantly at her, his eyes narrowed with a deathly stare.
Hermione held up her hands defensively, "Yeah, sure, I am only saying that if you ever did need anyone, I am here, I am really good with helping people through tough times in their life, just ask my friend Ginny, she-"
"Why do you think I need someone to talk to?" Draco cut in.
Hermione looked at him; she saw sadness in his usually cold gray eyes just for a moment, "I really do care Draco," she said quietly.
Draco bit his lip, it seemed to Hermione that he was about to spill his guts to her, when suddenly Snape walked in, "Times up," he said.
Draco jumped up and grabbed his cloak from the chair and brushed out of the room just as Hermione began to stand up. She said good night to Snape, who completely ignored her, and walked slowly out of the room after Draco. However he must have ran back to his common room, because he was nowhere in sight. She sighed sadly and walked back to the Gryffindor common room.
Draco stood in the shadows and watched as Hermione walked past his hiding place. He heard her sigh and turn a corner. He slide down the wall and sat with his knees pressed against his chest. This position hurt, but he didn't want anyone to find him there. He sat in silence without moving for quite some time. No one ever wanted to talk to him about what he felt, he was taught to just let things happen and keep his mouth shut.
~~
Draco looked out a window down the hall and saw the sun begin to rise. He forced himself up trying to ignore the pain on his body. He stood shakily for a moment and then strode down the hall to the Slytherin common room.
"Password?" The painting of a strong wizard yawned when Draco woke him up.
"Octus nobus," Draco mumbled. The portrait swung open and Draco walked through. The common room was a bit cold, the house elves hadn't been by to light the fires yet, and it being half way under the lake added more than the unnecessary coldness. However Draco slumped over to one of the couches and sprawled himself out onto it. He closed his eyes and was asleep within minutes.
Draco looked around; he was once again in the muggle village. Everything was the same, Voldemort and all the Death Eaters including his father were there, the houses were all burning. People were screaming and crying. Then Voldemort caught site of him standing there doing nothing. He walked over to him.
"Would you like to have something to do boy?" he asked and without letting Draco answer he called over Wormtail.
Draco's father was watching now. He was surrounded; there was nowhere to escape for Draco. Then Wormtail dragged over a screaming girl with brown flowing hair.
Draco's heart stopped, it was Hermione. Wormtail threw Hermione at Draco's feet. She looked up at him, "Please, don't kill me," she pleaded tears streaming down her face.
Draco's breathing increased, he couldn't kill her, he knew who she was and he couldn't kill her, this should have been easy for him.
"Go on then, do something." Lucius ordered.
Draco didn't take his eyes off of her, "Please Draco, don't kill me." She continued to plead.
Voldemort put an icy hand onto Draco's shoulder; he pointed his wand at Hermione, "Do something, or I will," he said coldly and increased his grip on Draco's shoulder.
"No Draco, you are way better than this, you don't have to do anything you don't want to," Hermione sat up only to be kicked back down by Lucius.
"I won't,"
Everyone around went silent and turned to Draco, "What?" Lucius asked his voice disbelieving and harsh.
"I won't do it," Draco said looking around at all the people who could kill him right now.
Hermione smiled up at him, while everyone else narrowed their eyes at him, but Draco didn't care.
"You can't make me kill Hermione, because I won't do it." He said in a voice he didn't know he had.
Voldemort pushed Draco aside and pointed his wand down at Hermione, "Avada Kedavra," he said.
Draco watched Hermione's head hit the ground under her; her eyes went cold and lifeless. Voldemort then rounded on Draco, "You will find that when I order one of my Death Eaters to do something, I expect it done," He pointed his wand at Draco, "Crucio," he whispered in the cold voice.
Draco's chest exploded in pain and he sat bolt up. He heard a shriek and then a thump. He panted and looked down at the floor, Pansy sat on the floor, "Pansy?" he asked.
Pansy smiled at him, "I wasn't expecting to find you down here, I tried to wake you up, but you went all creepy when I nudged you in the chest, you really startled me you know."
Draco looked at her and then leaned back down, he had never had a dream with Hermione in it before, and it was strange, why now?
"Are you all right Dracy?" Pansy asked placing a cold hand onto his forehead.
Draco pushed it off, "I'm fine, I just don't like people waking me up early." He pushed himself off of the couch and began to walk out of the room.
"Wait up, I'll come with you." Pansy called and ran up with him. She grabbed onto his arm and clung to it. Draco didn't even try to get her off, he had before, and every time she did it the harder it was to get her off.
They walked down the hall and then ran into non other than the wonder Trio themselves. The five of them stopped for a moment and glared at each other. Draco looked at Hermione, his dream was so real, and she had been so real. He quickly looked away as she caught his eye.
"Well, tell them to move out of our way Dracy," Pansy whined.
"Yeah Dracy, tell us to move." Sniggered Ron, Harry also began to silently laugh.
"Sorry Weasley, but it just sounds wrong when you say it like that." Draco said trying to keep his eyes off of Hermione, but they kept moving to her as if by a magnetic force.
Hermione must have realized that if they didn't leave the others would suspect something, because she pulled on Harry's cloak. "Come on Harry," she said. Harry shrugged and followed her, Ron reluctantly did the same.
"I swear, those stupid excuses for wizards, I don't think they should be allowed to even come within a foot of a Slytherin," Pansy went on; Draco rolled his eyes and continued to walk into the Great Hall, Pansy clinging onto him. "And that Hermione Granger girl," Draco felt his heart skip a beat, "She should be drug out into the street and Crucioed on the spot."
Draco yanked his arm away from Pansy startling her again, "I think you should be Crucioed." He spat and walked away.
Pansy stood rooted to the spot for a moment, but then ran to Malfoy again, "How was your training by the way?" she asked changing the subject.
Draco growled, "Don't you get it?" he yelled at her and stormed back out of the Great Hall.
A/N: Well, that is another chapter, in the next one; Draco may open up a bit, not much, but a little. I always take suggestions, and usually I use them, so if anyone would like something to happen, just ask it! Thank you! LPI3