Hate to Love

Prologue- Great Power

The old ruin stood in the distance, dilapidated and deserted. No one ever ventured up to it, the rumours kept even the wildest of children away from its old rusty gates. The nearest anyone ever got was the hill about 10 miles from the lake, the ruin stood on the opposite bank, alone and mostly forgotten.

Willow Découverte however was a different kind of person. She sat with her twin brother Alex, on their beds each night discussing what the tale could be about the old ruin. She was fascinated by it, as she was about many other stories of old, deserted houses that seemed to haunt villages and towns across the globe.

Alex was interested, but not knowing what was lurking up there scared him more than he liked to admit.

"You're such a wimp Alex" Willow would tease him some nights when he told her she was just making up some stupid ghost stories to scare him "You're nearly 16 years old!"

Alex never rose to his sisters deliberate attempts to wind him up, he just rolled over and tried to sleep. Some nights however, it wasn't so easy to ignore her.

"I'm going to go up there one day" Willow would say into the darkness of their room. "I bet there are all sorts of things to find up there. And then we could come back and tell everyone what we found"

"I don't think that's a very good idea Wil. It could be dangerous"

"That's the fun part"

Willow never thought about the dangerous part until it was right there on top of her, looking her in the face and there was nothing she could do. It was always Alex that kept her out of such trouble, but Alex was going to have a hard time stopping her on this.

And that was why Alex found himself helping his sister to paddle across the lake in their fathers old fishing boat in the dead of night. The waves lapping at the sides, darkness pushing their little boat nearer and nearer to the old ruin that everyone else was too scared to even look at.

Alex had never been so scared in all his life.

6 months earlier

"That, my faithful servant, is the best plan I've heard yet"

"Thank you my lord" Lucius Malfoy bowed to his master, and smirked inwardly. He would have the upper hand over all the death eaters eventually. It would just be a matter of time.

"You have done well Lucius, you will be greatly rewarded if your plan works as well as you say it will"

"I am sure of its success my Lord"

Lucius turned to leave with a swipe of his cloak. His plan couldn't fail. Not like the others. And with Draco by his side nothing could stand in the way of the Dark Lords defeat of Dumbledore, Hogwarts, and Harry Potter himself.

With Draco by his side.

"Lucius"

He turned back just as he reached the large oak doors that decorated the far wall of the mansion.

"My Lord?"

"You understand that this will not be an easy task. Even with my full strength now regained I will struggle to undo what that old fool, Dumbledore has created for himself"

Lucius waited for his master to continue. He knew the pause was for dramatic effect and never dared to interrupt.

"Your son Lucius, he is the key. He holds a great power in his fingers"

"Draco will be an exceptionally powerful Wizard given the correct training" Lucius replied proudly. He may not love his son like he should, but he had great pride in the boy. He was like no other Malfoy, he was weak and prone to losing control, and this angered Lucius. But he still had pride in his only son and heir, and his immense power was something he could not afford to lose.

"Does Draco know anything of his power yet Lucius?"

"Nothing my Lord, all in good time"

"I think that time has come, you will owl your son at Hogwarts and appoint Severus as his tutor. I doubt I will be able to complete the task without him"

Lucius had hoped it would never come to this. His son may be powerful but who was Draco willing to share it with? Draco had never shown much interest in becoming a Death Eater like his father. He had never shown much interest in anything his father wanted him to, except beating that Potter boy at Quidditch.

Lucius doubted Draco would agree to helping someone he had no desire to follow, destroy his home for the past 5 years of his life.

He doubted his sons loyalty above anything else. He knew Dumbledore was a persuasive old coot and Draco was weak, easily swayed.

"I-I shall see to it my Lord" he bowed again and swept out of the large, darkened room.

He hoped that Draco would agree without much of a fuss. His plan was fool proof if Draco was still loyal to his family.

Lucius found his way through the eerie silent hallways of Malfoy manor without even thinking about where his destination was. He would write to Severus Snape and inform him of the situation. Snape was trustworthy. Snape would train Draco well. Maybe a bit of Dark Magic would shake Draco awake and make him see what the sensible path was to take. Lucius hoped.

Lucius was wrong.