Disclaimer: I don't own anything HP that belongs to J.K. and I don't own the song "Father of Mine" by Everclear. But all characters of my own creation are, in fact, mine.

Note to readers: Okay, this is my first, pitiful attempt at a songfic. I would have used it in chapter one, but I didn't think of it then. I'm rewriting chapter one anyway, so everything's messed up and I don't want to fix it! I'm gonna rewrite chapter one… later… I'll keep you updated on that… Back to the songfic; I took out some of the verses that didn't fit well, so if you know the song "Father of Mine" by Everclear don't get mad at me. I put the lyrics in the center of the page in Italics. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Father of Mine

Father of mine

tell me where have you been

you know I just closed my eyes

my whole world disappeared

Night was falling over the Hogwarts grounds, slowly cloaking the vast stretches of land in a shroud of purple and black darkness stippled with white stars, as though the cloak of night were back-lit and stabbed, letting the faint and distant starlight shine through the tiny wounds. The setting sun lay low in the sky, giving off a glint of deep red and orange light on the horizon. Rouge watched it from the window in her darkened dormitory, her fingertips pressed to the glass. The dormitory was empty, as well as the common room. Everyone was already at the Halloween feast, but Rouge stayed behind just as the note from that morning instructed her.

Rouge felt a sudden stab of pain at her left forearm. She rolled up the left sleeve of her robes to just above her elbow and there, the now jet-black brand upon her pale skin, was the Dark Mark. Nearly all of last year, she had watched the scarlet mark slowly appear like a countdown, unknowing of what it could have possibly meant.

But now, Master calls.

Rouge looked out the window again. Then sun's red light shone at the edges of the forbidden forest as though it were engulfed in flames, the fire licking at the purple cloak of the night. In the dim light, squinting hard, she could make out the images of cloaked figures creeping stealthily up the path from Hogsmede, and she knew that one wouldn't be able to see them, unless one knew that they were there. They couldn't be students; everyone was at the feast, which was why the meeting was tonight. No one would be on the grounds. No one would suspect that the Death Eaters would be meeting in the forbidden forest.

Rouge pulled her cloak out of her trunk and draped it over her shoulders as she walked out of the dormitory.

Father of mine

take me back to the day

when I was still your golden boy

back before you went away

One of oak front doors closing with careful silence behind her, Rouge breathed in the night air from beneath the hood of her cloak. It was sharp and cold and fresh in her lungs, reviving her under the puncture-wound stars. Keeping her hood pulled down over her face, though the cover of the black night around her was disguise enough, she made her way not down the path to the grounds, but along the stone walkway to one of the sides of the school's front entrance. She took this route for one reason: Draco.

That afternoon, in the main corridor during a particularly bad crowd of traffic, she walked past a crowd of Slytherins, Draco among them, going in the opposite direction. But the crowd was so dense that, as she walked by, shoulders were brushed. Draco didn't look at Rouge as she passed, but she could distinctly hear him whisper, audible only by their proximity over the din of chatter, "Archway of the outer courtyard at the call." Their gazes didn't meet, they didn't even stop walking for a moment, but Rouge had gotten the message and understood, and here she was.

The stone archway was cut into a solid stone wall that supported an outside walkway on a higher floor and led to the outer-most courtyard in the school. It was a few yards away from where Rouge was walking, but she stopped there and waited. She watched the seemingly empty archway, the light of the single torch in the archway flickering as the flame danced, but she saw no one there, nothing at all. Was she early? Was Draco late? Or was this all some stupid joke of Draco's-? Her list of possible explanations was interrupted as the flickering light died abruptly. The flame in the torch in the archway had suddenly gone out, throwing the whole area into complete darkness. Instinctively, Rouge knew that it was Draco, and she quickly resumed her pace.

And there, indeed, was Draco, clad, like Rouge, in a heavy black cloak and was leaning casually and, in Rouge's opinion, all too calmly against the wall of the archway beside the smouldering torch, the delicate wisps of smoke emitting from the blackened embers framing his hooded head. By the starlight, she saw him fingering his mask in his pale hands as she approached, Rouge's own mask still within the folds of her cloak. He looked up at her, his lips parted to speak, but she immediately held up a hand to silence him, looking over her shoulder, and he laughed at her.

"Honestly, Rouge, do you really think anyone is following us?" he asked, his voice taunting with his laughter, but he still kept his voice only just above a whisper.

"Is anyone else coming?" she asked, ignoring his taunt, her voice just as quiet.

"No, it's just us. We're the only students, you know, but of course that's going to change... and Snape left for the forest earlier."

Rouge nodded and beckoned him forth, finding this no time for pleasantries and conversation, and Draco got the gist and complied. As they walked down the stone walkway heading this time towards the path to the grounds, Rouge caught a glimpse of the windows of the Great Hall. Warm orange light streaming through the gothic cathedral stylized windows, she could see a cloud of fluttering blackness near the ceiling, which she recognized after a moment as a horde of live bats. Light reflecting off the golden plates could be seen even from outside as it shone it circles of light against the walls, and giant floating Jack-O-Lanterns grinned at the pair of cloaked Death Eaters as they passed.

It was even darker by the time the pair had found the correct path in the forest, but they didn't dare use Lumos for a bit of light, despite Draco's insufferable calmness and confidence of their inability to be caught. Rouge could tell Draco was afraid of being here in this forest, though he hid it well. They both jumped at the smallest of noises and warily eyed the shadows that lurked in the darkness all around them. Even the trees and foliage looking sinister this Halloween night, branches looming out like skeletal arms. Rouge didn't see why she should be frightened, but she was nonetheless, by the nightmarish atmosphere, if nothing else, but there was something else. Not of the creatures that dwelled in the forest that scared Draco, for she didn't know of them, but she was afraid of what they were walking towards.

A twig snapped somewhere behind them, breaking the silence like one breaks a pane of glass with an anvil. Draco grabbed Rouge's arm and pulled her sharply into the shadow of a great oak tree just to the side of the path. A chestnut centaur suddenly leapt onto the path they had been walking on and it stared around fiercely, eyes narrowed. Draco and Rouge stood ridged with fear, rooted to the spot. Both of Draco's hands were now on Rouge's arms, holding her firmly in the shadow, close to him. They could hear the centaur crunch leaves beneath its hooves. Rouge could feel Draco's trembling, uneven breaths against her skin, for their faces were only an inch at most apart. Rouge shut her eyes out of fear and kept them tightly closed.

Please, let it leave, Rouge's thoughts pleaded. Please, don't let it find us.

They could hear the centaur move around the path, coming closer, until it was on the other side of the oak tree. Rouge suddenly realized that Draco was still holding her as he suddenly and silently pulled her even closer. Even though it was only for hiding purposes Rouge got an odd sensation from their physical propinquity.

Father of mine

tell me where did you go

you had the world inside your hand

but you did not seem to know

Something stirred down the path from the way they had been walking. The centaur snapped its head around in that direction and bounded down the path toward the source of the sound, but Rouge and Draco didn't move, both still too scared to move. They waited in fearful silence for another minute or so to see if the centaur came back, but they were alone once again. They continued to stand perfectly still, their physical proximity still intense, but then they seemed to suddenly return to their proper senses. Draco let go of Rouge's arms and her eyes snapped open as they stumbled away from each other a face paces in opposite directions as though each other's touch was painful. Draco hurriedly walked back onto the path and Rouge followed.

For a moment, Draco looked back at her, and Rouge held his gaze – their gazes held each other. They stared without a saying anything, seeming unable to say anything, for a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, time paused by the stillness. There must have been over a yard of pace between them, then, but there was something there between them, something that had held them bound when they stood so closely together in that shadow, and was stretching between them now, fibers pulled thin. But Draco turned his gaze with a shake of his head, and Rouge joined him on the path.

They resumed walking in silence. They walked for longer than Rouge could guess and they didn't talk – partly due to the worry of meeting another creature, possibly something worse than a centaur. They made a few turns going deeper into the center of the forest, but kept as close to the path as possible. After what seemed like ages of walking, Draco suddenly stopped, grabbing Rouge's arm again. She stopped and looked back at his hooded face, and he pointed to a flicker of light in the distance that could faintly be seen in the darkness of the forest between the branches of the countless numbers of trees. Rouge nodded and they resumed walking, this time toward the light.

They reached a large clearing in the woods, possibly the nest of some giant animal or pack of animals at one point, but seemed oddly deserted of any life suited for such surroundings, as though everything had been chased away, or stripped barren by disease. They must have been miles into the forest; the glowing moon no longer visible above the tops of the looming shadowed trees. The flickering light they had seen in the distance seemed to be all around them, still faint, but coming from no visible source. They walked nervously over to the circle of cloaked and masked figures that waited for them in the middle of the clearing.

Keeping their heads bowed, the two cloaked youths approached the tallest of figures in the circle. Skeletally thin he stood, his wide and vividly scarlet eyes staring down at them. The catlike slits of his eyes were focused on Draco as he fell to his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes, the routine Death Eater's greeting to their master. Rouge did not perform this greeting, earning her a few well-deserved glares from nearby Death Eaters, but Voldemort didn't seem to notice. Draco found his place in the circle beside his father and Rouge found her place beside hers in his shadow.

Father of mine

tell me what do you see

when you look back at your wasted life

and you don't see me

Everyone was there. Wormtail, Avery, Lucius Malfoy, Macnair, Nott, Mulciber, even Snape, and not a single one was absent except the traitors and those still held in Azkaban. The tension in the circle was so thick you could have cut it with a knife as the members of the circle waited for the Dark Lord to begin his speech, which was by now customary at the beginning of every meeting.

"Tonight is Halloween," Voldemort stated calmly, looking around the circle. "Exactly fourteen years ago I killed the Potters. It has been fourteen years since I tried to kill the Potters' son, Harry, and he became famous. It has been fourteen years since I was defeated by my own rebounded curse, and fourteen years it took me to fully recover my strength and power." There was a nervous stir among the circle. Voldemort noticed. It was what he wanted.

"Many said I had died," Voldemort continued, "but those who were wise knew better. They didn't think I was human enough to die. In some respects, I believe they are correct, but I always have been human enough to produce an heir."

Rouge felt one of Voldemort's pale, spider-like hands slip onto her shoulder. She could feel its cold touch through her cloak and she fought not to shudder, and even more difficult, not to flinch. Another stir went through the circle, an unidentified and disturbed stir that evaded Voldemort's notice.

"How many years have we kept away from Hogwarts?" he asked sharply and bitterly. "We were afraid to overcome it because of that blundering, old, mudblood-loving fool, Dumbledore. We never attacked, never even tried." Voldemort glared at the figures in the circle, as though it was their fault and not his own. "We'll attack this year, from inside. From the most inconspicuous house." Rouge felt Voldemort's grip on her shoulder tighten painfully as he mentioned her house. "And from the most inconspicuous person. We have three Death Eaters in Hogwarts, but one in Gryffindor. I have waited longer than fourteen years for this, and I shall not wait any longer."

Rouge looked up and across the circle at Wormtail. He looked nervous and scared, which was nothing new. He had told Rouge of the events at the Tri Wizard Tournament, of the plan they had, and how it all went wrong.

Crouch had been their spy in Hogwarts, Rouge thought as her anger began to rise, and look what it got him. A kiss from a dementor.

Rouge clenched her fists. She wasn't about to be used like Crouch without a fight. She wouldn't be a waste, a story of failure to tell. She wouldn't be a pawn in her father's scheme just waiting to be taken.

So Rouge made her move.

She snorted, as though amused. Everyone turned their cloaked heads to look at her, even Voldemort himself. Rouge gave him a sideways look, which many Death Eaters gawked at, but Rouge didn't stop there.

Father of mine

tell me where have you been

I just closed my eyes

and the world disappeared

"What makes you think it'll work this time?" Rouge said with such sneering amusement that many Death Eaters moved on to looks of amazement and some of loyal disgust and horror. "Your failure last year should have taught you something."

At this, the Death Eaters weren't sure what to think, because it was so unexpected and unbelievable that anyone would talk to the Dark Lord about his failure. She might as well be digging her own grave, but it was game whether or not there would be much left to put in the grave after he's done with her.

Everyone's attention turned to Voldemort, and to more amazement, he, too, looked amused.

"It's no wonder you're in Gryffindor," Voldemort said lazily, addressing Rouge, and for a moment she thought nothing would happen and she'd get off scott-free, or more appropriately, curse-free. But with a quick movement of Voldemort's hand, Rouge was on the ground. It happened so fast that it took her a moment to realize what happened and to register the searing pain in her cheek and shoulder.

Voldemort had slapped her across the face, knocking her down, and she had fell on something hard like a sharp rock. As she lay – a frightened huddled mass on the ground – she touched her shoulder, which throbbed with pain. She winced at just the light pressure of her fingertips, and she drew back her hand. Blood coated her fingertips and the shoulder of her cloak was soaked with it. Rouge whimpered. She knew there was more to come.

Father of mine

tell me how do you sleep

with the children you abandoned

and the wife I saw you beat

"Oh, come now, Rouge. It's only a little blood," Voldemort taunted with a high-pitched laugh. Rouge looked up at his silhouette in the source-less light. He was bent over, casting a shadow over her like the shadow of death. His hand was stretched out and he was wrapping strands of her bloodred hair around a long, pale finger. His scarlet eyes laughed at her. They laughed as though amused by the fact that he had put the blood in her blonde hair and the blood on her robes.

He stood up and Rouge felt something slither by her feet. It moved quickly along the length of her body and wrapped itself loosely around her neck. Rouge hissed angrily at Nagini, who hissed back.

"Not yet, Nagini," Rouge heard Voldemort hiss, "not yet. My dearest daughter still has a yet part to play. We cannot waste such a servant that can get so close to Harry Potter."

Nagini hissed and slithered away to her master's feet. Rouge knew exactly what was going to happen next, but she had no way to prepare for it. She saw Voldemort raise his wand, pointing it toward Rouge. She heard him, Lord Voldemort, her own father mutter, "Crucio!"

Then he walked away

daddy gave me a name

then he walked away

my dad he gave me a name

Pain.

That's all she could feel. Pain worse than any pain she had ever felt, worse than the glimpse she had gotten that afternoon. Pain ran through every inch of her body and she prayed for it to end. She wanted to die. Through her violent twitching she looked up at the cloaked figures around her. Some laughed, but none moved, none lifted a finger to help her. Her eyes watered with the pain, tears running freely down her cheeks, and she could barely make out Draco's figure in the circle. She pleaded to him as she writhed, "help..." but her voice was barely a whisper as she dug her nails in the ground in attempt to steady her shuddering. Draco grinned at her. She could distinctly tell it was a grin, even through her tears. And she saw him mouth the words, 'Now why would I help a Gryffindor?' and his grin broadened.

Hope failed her as well as her thoughts. She gave up all attempts to block out the pain, and she screamed. The bloodcurdling scream that emitted from her pierced the very night – another puncture-wound star. She screamed, hoping someone would hear, someone, anyone would come, and someone would make it stop.

But no one made it stop until Voldemort raised his wand. No one came. No one even heard.

For no one hears a shadow.

Then he walked away

Note to readers: And so the plot thickens… I hope y'all like it! I'm gonna take a bit of a break from writing this to sort out my thoughts of what happens next and to write some other fics (mostly songfics that have been playing loudly in my head). So thanks for reading and please review!