Hey guys!!!!!!  I'm back!!!  (ducks, ready to be hit by rotten tomatoes, and  then realizes that the computer cannot throw)  Sorry I took so long, high school's been a pain lately.  It's Friday again, and that is amazing, this was the longest week I have ever had at school.  (Let's just say it sucked and leave it at that).

Okay, whatever chapter (18…I think…)

            "YOU WILL DO IT DRACO!  IF YOU ARE A MALFOY, THEN YOU WILL DO IT!!  YOU WILL NOT DISGRACE THE FAMILY!!!!!"  A tall Lucius Malfoy loomed over the seemingly small boy in the corner.  In fact, the boy could be no more than four, and even then he seemed small for his age.  The boy had silvery blond hair and grey eyes, just as his father did, but his father's eyes were filled with rage and fury, and the boy's were filled with anguish and horror.

            "B…but…father…I don't want…"

            "YOU DON'T WANT!!!!????  YOU DON'T WANT!!!!!!!!!!!???????"  All of a sudden Lucius' face drained of it's red.  His lips twitched a bit as if itching to smile, and his eyes hardened.  "Of course Draco, my dear boy, we all have to do things that we don't want to do, and you wouldn't want to disappoint me…would you?"  The boy was disarmed by his father's kind tone.

            "Of course not, father," answered Draco hurriedly, wanting to please his father more than anything.

            "Then come here Draco," said Lucius.  The boy stepped forward out of the shadows of the corner.  He hesitantly came towards his father.  Immediately Lucius slapped the skinny boy, once on each cheek.  "The first one was for not coming to me immediately, the second was for even thinking of disobeying me!  You will do what I told you to do."

            Draco's eyes were watering from the pain radiating from his cheeks.  He did not mind though, because if his father had punished him he had obviously deserved it.  Draco absolutely adored his father in this way; it was just too bad his father didn't notice.  "Of…of course father…" This earned him another slap.  Draco did not need his father to tell him what he had done wrong.  He would just answer more promptly next time. 

            "That's a good boy," said Lucius maliciously.  "Now, go, and I want it dead by tomorrow."

            The next day the four-year-old boy presented his best friend, a lively Cocker Spaniel, to his father, dead.  Afterwards the boy ran to his room and cried his eyes out, knowing that he had not failed his father, but he had betrayed his best friend.

            An eleven-year-old Draco Malfoy stood quietly in the corner, waiting for his father to finish business with the minister.  He was still very skinny, and quite small for his age, but he could easily put a charm over himself to hide the fact from everyone else.  He was leaving for school today, Hogwarts, and his father had called him into his study.  Draco had been told to wait in the corner, and after long years of subservience, he obeyed.  Thinking about it, Draco realized that he was broken, broken by his father, and that he had realized too late, and he would never be that little smiling boy in pictures ever again.  Then again, his mother was broken also, or maybe she had always been that way.  Draco often wondered if she even had cared what had happened to him, and never thought she had, until Draco had found her on her knees when he was six, pleading for him.  With a small sigh, Draco realized that he wouldn't even be able to do that anymore, that he no longer had the will to fight his father.  So, when his father snapped at him from his desk to come there, he immediately stepped forward, head bowed, hoping that his father would not notice the tears in his eyes.

            A twelve-year-old Draco Malfoy stood before his father, back straight, flinging insults into his face.  He had learned something that year, something that Potter had surprisingly taught him.  He realized, for the first time in his life, that there was hope, and not to give up.  Harry had lived in conditions similar, if not at times worse than his, and still had come out with hope.  Draco had wanted to be able to do that, and now he was doing it.  His mother was standing back, her face passive, as if she cared not a jot about what was going on.  Then, something happened to Draco that had never happened before.  He felt a severe pain, and then there was black.

            A fifteen-year-old Draco Malfoy stood between his parents, who were masked and robed, as was he.  He watched as other students his age from his house were called forward, and as the ceremony was performed.  There was something revolting about it, something that did not seem right.  In fact, he knew it wasn't right, and that he didn't want to be a part of it.  For the first time, he wanted to make a decision on his own, a decision that didn't encompass others opinions, and he knew what he had to do.  Draco was called forward, and he went, but not without a smile.  He knew for a fact that he would die, but that didn't matter.  He saw Professor Snape in the crowd, and he was looking at him, mask off, disappointed.  Did Snape know what he was going to do?  Or was Snape a spy?  These questions seemed worthless now though, because nothing was going to change his mind.  "Do you, Draco Malfoy, swear allegiance to the Dark Lord, forever, until death do you meet?"

            "No," said Draco loud, rising from the ground and facing the Death Eater.  "No, I will not swear allegiance to something like him.  I will not be broken in by him also." 

            The Death Eater was slightly surprised, but pulled out his wand.  "DRACO, RUN!!"  He vaguely registered his father's voice, and out of years of obedience ran as he was commanded.  It wasn't until he was past the screams of his dying parents that he realized what had happened.

            Draco realized that his parents had loved him; even his father.  "I'm sorry, dad," he whispered, "I failed you."

            Draco sat straight up in bed looking at the unfamiliar red hangings around the bed.  Suddenly he remembered where he was.  Harry had offered his bed; Potter himself was sleeping on the floor.  Just until another bed was brought in, and then he'd get his own.  In fact, he had filed for a house change the night before, and it had been approved by his Head of House, McGonagall, and the Headmaster. 

            Draco pulled back the curtains and sighed as he realized it was long past breakfast, and most likely lunch.  Well, at least it was Saturday.  Suddenly Draco heard a loud noise, and Harry came flying into the dormitory.

            "Draco…I had this weird feeling when I was in Hogsmede, and I had to get you this, I got it improved by Dumbledore and everything.  Harry held out a box that had holes in it, and I long green ribbon.

            Slowly Draco untied the ribbon and opened the lid.  Inside was a tiny Cocker Spaniel puppy.

Sorry it's so short, but I've got to go babysit!

R/R please!