Chapter 92

Then the Dark Lord moved on and burned the Dark Mark on the black haired wizard next to Lestrange. The terrifying screams echoed through the room and the smell of burned flesh started to get unbearable. After his father had received the Dark Mark, the room became blurry and Draco wondered what was going on just now.

He rubbed his eyes and soon the scene in front of him was clear again.

The Slytherin found himself in a street which seemed to be in a muggle area. Nice houses with a lawn and the muggles favourite transportation in front of it were lined up next to each other. It was night time and one of the street lamps bathed two cloaked figures in its light. Draco moved closer and recognized his father and Professor Snape discussing something of great importance.

"Voldemort is sure that the Potters are here somewhere, so lets get it over with, I have a hot little wife waiting for me at home" he heard his father chuckle and his eyes grew wide.

This must be a memory from 15 years ago. His father was noticeably younger and even Professor Snape looked less sallow and greasy. He silently followed the two deatheaters down the road when all of a sudden he heard a baby wailing from inside one of the houses. His father looked at Snape and gave him a knowing smile. Carefully the men walked up a little path that separated two pretty flower beds from each other. Lucius Malfoy let his wand brushing over the white lilies and the flowers withered and suddenly looked like charcoal. Watching this sent shivers down Draco's spine while he followed the two men, who were now approaching the house.

"Alohomora" he heard Snape whisper and they entered.

The men crossed a little corridor that led obviously to the sitting room and went upstairs, following the wailing of the baby. Draco followed them, curious about what would happen next. He had totally forgotten that he already knew what happened to the Potters. Then with a bang a door at the far end of the corridor was blasted out of its hinges when his father flicked his wand at it,

The screaming of a woman rung in his ears when he walked up to see better.

"Not my baby... don't hurt my baby" she screamed when Lucius Malfoy ripped it from her.

Draco could see that they had entered the nursery. The woman who had been feeding her baby was now standing pressed against the changing table, while his father was holding the now furiously screaming baby upside down on one foot. It was crystal clear to him that this was not the Potters home. The house was showing no sign of magical inhabitants and it was obvious that the baby couldn't be Harry Potter.

The pink lacy dress and the hair clips gave away that this was most definitely a girl.

"Shut up muggle scum" Lucius shouted and moved around the room looking nothing in particular.

"If you want money, I have some in the kitchen downstairs" the young muggle woman whimpered, her brown curls plastered to her cheeks by tears and sweat.

"We don't want money" Snape spat and looked at his comrade. "That's not the place we were looking for; let's go"

"I'm not leaving. I want to have a little fun first."

The silver blonde wizard looked at the baby dangling from his arm in utter disgust. The little girl was squirming and screaming, trying to get out of the tight grip.

Lucius pointed his wand at the mother and growled "If you move bitch your spawn here will learn how to fly".

Draco was totally flabbergasted by the scene in front of him. The woman fell on her knees, buried her face in her hands and cried heart-rending.

"Oh stop that drama" Lucius said with a bored and disgusted voice and made an attempt to throw the baby in the woman's direction.

The mother's eyes glimmered hopefully when she looked at the blonde wizard.

Just then Malfoy said "I rather stop the drama with deatheater style" and banged the child against crib.

Crack

Draco heard the sickening sound and then saw the mother throwing herself on the lifeless body of her little girl, whose blood was pooling on the floor.

It was the heartless laughter of his father that finally did him in. Before he even felt the bile rising in his throat, he vomited on a potted plant in the corner next to him.

His father's voice brought his attention back to the two deatheaters.

"Stop whining woman"

Quickly he pulled the woman away from her child and kicked the lifeless body of the infant out of his path. Professor Snape just stared at his comrade and Draco was sure he could see disgust in his eyes. The Slytherin boy had to tear his eyes away from the bloody heap of clothes and limbs on the floor.

Thinking about that his father would soon return to Malfoy manor where his own baby and wife would be waiting, made his father's behaviour even less understandable. The woman was screaming even louder when she tried breaking free from Lucius' vice-like grip and getting back to her child.

"I told you to stop whining" Lucius growled now and lifted the woman on the changing table.

"I'm going to make you a new one"

Draco was shocked beyond belief when he watched his father taking the young woman on the changing table against her will. He saw the lifeless eyes of the muggle, who looked like all sanity had lost her, when his father finally let go of her.

Before Lucius pulled away from her, he whispered "That should suffice"

Then he saw Professor Snape walking up and casting the killing curse on the woman. With her dead body draped over the changing table, she looked like an enormous rag doll.

"What'd you do that for? Lucius said angrily while he wiped his bloody hands on the baby blanket.

"We have work to do and can't waste our time with scum like that" Snape said coldly, but Draco wondered if he saw something like pity in his professor's eyes.

He followed the two men down the steps and they were about to leave the house when Snape spoke again.

"Why did you start with them in the first place? You knew that wasn't the Potters"

"The baby wailing annoyed me. I get enough of that at home as it is. Unfortunately I can't kill the one I got. Narcissa is not that willing lately and I doubt that she will give me another heir, so I have to put up with the brat I have"

That finally convinced him that his father just used the deatheaters as an excuse to cause harm. What threat could a muggle baby be that justified killing it like that? He started to wonder if all the noble reasons his father once told him to believe in where nothing but excuses to bend the world to his will.

Then the world around him blurred again and he knew that he had been switched to another of Snape's memories.

He was at home and saw his mother, father and the professor sitting in the drawing room. Then he saw himself sitting in a corner, playing with his toy wand.

"Who gave the boy that rubbish" his father bellowed and he saw his mother flinching terribly.

It surprised him that his mother was showing signs of fear so openly. It had always seemed to him that she had no emotions, no matter which. He saw his maybe three year old self crying when his father took the toy wand and snapped it in two. However the disappointed whining of little Draco immediately came to an end when his father gave him a real wand.

After a disapproving glare of Snape he explained that this was a training wand and that it wouldn't allow casting major spells.

"He needs to learn how to handle a real wand to be a worthy heir "

"But Lucius, he's still almost a baby, plea-"

A hard blow to her jaw stopped her in mid-sentence.

"I told you not to question me" Malfoy said and glared at her. "You have nothing to say whatsoever"

Draco watched the scene in front of him and suddenly he knew why his mother never was able to show any kind of emotion. His father had broken her will and her ability to be affectionate ages ago.

Just then he felt someone touch his shoulder and turned around.

Professor Snape held his arm and said "I think you've seen enough"

The world around him blurred again and he found himself back in Snape's office.

Severus could see tears brimming in the boys eyes when he sat down in the chair once again.

His legs were shaky and he was paler than usual.

"Why did you show me that?"

"I wanted you to see that being a deatheater has nothing to do with glory and pride. The muggles are no threat to the wizarding world. We've spend centuries to make them believe that magic doesn't exist. The Dark Lord's intentions are not to save the wizarding world, but to bring it under his control. A witch is a witch and a wizard is a wizard, no matter if he's a pureblood, a half-blood or a muggle-born. You can't see it on the outside what blood status a person has nor can you determine it by talent or intelligence."

He looked at the boy again, who for the first time in his life seemed to listen to what he was talking about.

"Do you think it was right to kill a baby, just because it was crying, no matter if muggle or magical?"

Draco shook his head mutely.

"That was so terrible. I can still smell the blood"

Just then the boy's tears fell freely down his pale cheeks and Severus pulled a white handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to the boy. Inwardly he was disgusted by the open display of weakness, but he knew it was a good sign. It seemed that he had finally broken through the armor of ignorance his father had helped him build up over the years.

"There's no noble cause to follow when you join the deatheaters, just violence and death. Do you still want to follow that path?"

Draco wiped his eyes again with the hanky and shrugged. "I will think it over"

He's definitely no deatheater material anymore, Snape thought and smiled inwardly.

"May I ask you something, sir?"

Snape nodded and his ever observant eyes recognized that Draco was quite uneasy. His fingers were fidgeting restlessly with his sleeve.

"Why did you join the deatheaters?"

Snape knew that only the truth would bring them further. He had to be honest to make sure the boy would truly reconsider his decision.

"I was young and misguided. My father was a lot like Lucius. Pureblood pride and honor were most important to him. It was natural for me to follow in his footsteps, just as it would have been for you. However I've learned in the past years that not the blood status you've been born into makes you honorable and worthy but your own actions. I can tell you that I'm not proud of most of the things I've done as a deatheater, but when you've joined once, there's no way out"

He gave the boy, who was still slightly sniffing, a pointed look.

"You may go to your dormitory now. I will make a decision about your punishment for today's activities and you will be informed then"

Draco nodded curtly and walked to the door.

"Thank you sir" he said meekly before he left.

Severus however knew that Narcissa would hex him to kingdom come if she would ever find out what he had shown her son. But deep inside herself she would see that it was the only choice he had to prevent the boy from making a major mistake.

Remus was on his way to Godric's Hollow. The headmistress had informed him about the incident and how his Gryffindor had gotten involved in it. Right then he had wanted nothing more then to turn Draco into a garbage bin.

He knew he had to be quick, because James was not aware of the threat. As the 'dead person' he still was to the majority of the wizarding community, he had the freedom of walking around in disguise without being noticed, but now that his true health status had been discovered, Voldemort was looking for him.

His job now was to ensure that James wouldn't leave the cottage any more without a guard. It would be hard enough because of James stubborn nature. The werewolf had scolded him before about his irresponsibility when it came to his own health and security. Although that he knew that he wasn't invincible, or immortal, he seemed to be too sure about himself and his abilities of outsmarting deatheaters.

Remus knew that Bellatrix Lestrange had been sent out to find Lames and that was the worst news. The witch was a fanatic follower of Voldemort and she wouldn't give up until she had James in her clutches. He didn't dare to apparate or floo directly to Godric's Hollow; they still were not sure about the spy and he didn't want to risk anything. Therefore he had taken the identity of a 7th year Ravenclaw muggle born and apparated a town close by and took a cab.

The Fidelius charm had been placed on the house again with Dumbledore as secret keeper and Flitwick had altered the charm that the information could not even be obtained by the use of Verita serum. Remus let the cab stop in front of a pub and paid the driver. Since he had left the grounds of Hogwarts, he felt like someone was following him. He had been as careful as possible but he wouldn't take any chances.

Quickly he entered the pub and rushed to the restroom. There he casted an Disillusionment charm on himself and left the pub again. He didn't see the grey eyes that were following him all the way outside.

Without further ado, he followed the street to the little cottage that was hidden from view by several large trees and took another look around.

Making sure nobody was close by, he entered the door.

James was reading in the study when Remus arrived.

Quickly he informed his old friend about the current situation and ordered to stay in the house at all times. Just as always, James took it too easy and it Remus had to bring all his cleverness to convince him finally. Mentioning that there was Lily and Harry who needed him, not to mention a baby on the way that did the trick. Finally, when he was sure that James wouldn't try any silly marauder trick on him, he apparated back to the school.

A cloaked figure with cold grey eyes was standing in front of the house. Thanks to advanced dark magic, it had been possible for it to hear what has been spoken. Unfortunately there was no way to get into the house without getting the secret keeper to talk, so it would have to wait

Severus met Remus in the headmistress' office. With a curt nod he greeted the werewolf, who had reported to Minerva and was about to leave. When they were alone, he informed her about the content of his memories on her request.

"You showed him what?" she shrieked in shock and balled her hands to fists.

"I had to make an impression on Mr Malfoy and I think I was quite successful." Snape said coolly and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I hope for your own good that this ordeal had the desired effect, yet I don't want you to repeat it. I don't want his already delicate emotional status scarred to a point when he's able to start a school massacre"

An annoyed snort emerged from his lips at the pointed look that accompanied McGonagall's little speech.

Malfoy and delicate, how ridiculous, he thought right before they departed to attend dinner at the Great Hall.

Later in the evening, Ron was lying in his bed thinking of Hermione, who would be released from the hospital the next morning. He couldn't wait for her to get back; the time without her had been very lonely.

Sleep came easy for him that night but his restless mind would let him rest in peace.

Soon he was dreaming.

Dudley was sitting in the common room, practicing transfiguration more or less successfully. For some reason, he couldn't pronounce the spell right. He was trying to transfigure his rat Shaka into a teapot for hours now and it just wouldn't work. His bad temper was getting the better of him and he banged his wand on the table in the middle of the incantation.

The wand bounced off and sparks were flying everywhere. The table caught fire and the rat was squeaking miserable when a flash of blue light hit him in the chest. Dudley panicked when he saw what he had done. Quickly he put out the fire with the sleeve of his robe and when the smoke cleared, he recognized that the rat wasn't moving anymore. He dashed out of the common room in high speed and left the rat on the table.

However, the rat was moving; yet not on his own accord.

Just when the common room door closed after Dudley, Shaka was levitated by an invisible force and hovered several inches over the desk in midair. Then the body of the rat started to stretch and his shape started to change. It grew larger and larger; his hind legs got longer and bigger while his front legs sprouted fingers.

A groan emerged from the body, and then it dropped on the floor.

"I'm sure so going to bite him when he gets back, the stupid moron. What have I ever done to deserve this? No, even better, I'll pee on his potions homework, then Snape is going to kill him" he said with a deep voice.

Wait, did I just talk, he thought and got on his feet.

It seemed to him as if his legs would never end when he lifted his upper body in to the air.

His front legs had gone and he looked down his body.

"OH MY GOD" he gasped and ran up the steps to the dormitory.

As soon as he got there, he gazed into the large mirror beside the door and screamed in delight. He wasn't a rat any longer. Somehow his owner, the bloody idiot had managed to give him a human body.

There wasn't a rat-face looking back at him from the mirror.. He was tall, with dark skin and brown eyes. His hair was as black as his fur had been and cut short.

Talking about fur...

Just then he recognized that his body wasn't covered with fur anymore and that he was quite naked. He knew he couldn't afford to get caught right away by running around in the castle like god had created him, so he went to a nearby trunk and looked through it for some clothes. Soon he was dressed in a pair of black paints and a white shirt that was a little tight around his well build upper body.

"Well fortunately I'm still well trained and don't have a gut like Duddydumbs" he snickered and put on the shoes that stood next to the bed.

It didn't bother him that these clothes didn't belong to him. He had to look out for himself. He looked in the mirror one last time before he went back to the common room. Most of all he was interested in all those books, the boy, he unfortunately belonged to, had the chance to read. As a rat he couldn't read, but he sincerely hoped that he had the ability as a human.

Soon he was absorbed in Dudley's transfiguration book when the door opened again. His head jerked up and he sighed inwardly. No matter who was coming now would report him and he would be transfigured back into a rat. He knew the girl who was entering the common room just then. Dudley had talked his ear off about her since the day they came to Hogwarts.

Hermione Granger.

She was reading a piece of parchment and didn't even realize he was sitting there until he had put her book bag down and had fallen on an armchair opposite to him.

"Who're you?" she wondered and narrowed her eyes slightly. "I have never seen you in here before, so how did you get here?"

Just then, Shaka was lost for words. He knew he couldn't tell her his real name; she would recognize it and draw the right conclusions.

"I'm Akash" he said quickly, wondering if she would buy it.

Hermione stared at the handsome boy in front of her, waiting for him to explain what he was doing there, when he finally spoke. His deep voice echoed in her ears and touched a part inside her like only one man before. She closed her eyes and saw somebody else with dark hair and strict, pale features. Then she shook her head to banish this mental picture and concentrated on the boy in front of her.

"Well Akash" she said and tried to sound collected. "What are you doing here?"

Akash held up his book. "Reading. I love reading."

Hermione looked at him in surprise. There weren't too many guys out there who enjoyed reading, so this could be an interesting conversation.

"I was just trying to transfigure this quill into a key and wondered if you could help me" he said and hoped she wouldn't see through his little lie.

"Sure" Hermione said airily and sat down next to him.

"First of all, you need to learn the move"

She held her own wand up and pointed it at the quill on the table.

"Do it like this" she explained and made a quick swishing movement like an eight over the quill.

"Then the incantation" She looked at him and recognized that his brown eyes hung on her every word. "Clavis transit"

She smiled when the quill changed into an old-fashioned silver key. Quickly she transfigured it back and looked at the boy expectantly. Akash took Dudley's wand from the table and spoke the incantation while he tried to accomplish the move at the same time.

The quill didn't do anything.

"Don't worry" Hermione said calmly and covered his hand with her own. Slowly she showed him how to move his hand, but he didn't pay any attention.

His eyes were fixed on her face while his hands clearly recognized how warm and soft her hand was.

"You're really good at that, you know" he said and his deep voice sent shivers down her spine.

She looked at him and realized that she was still holding his hand. For some reason it was impossible for her to let go.

His left hand was resting in his lap and she could clearly see a scar which reminded her of two comets circling each other. His hand was warm to the touch and so very strong. She smiled at him shyly and her heart skipped a beat when he suddenly dropped the wand and his fingers entwined with hers.

His left hand came to rest on her cheek then and he purred "I will have to practice on that a little more"

Damn that voice, she thought and without even noticing it, his face came closer to hers.

He smiled slightly before he closed the little distance that was left and their lips touched.

Hermione sighed softly; gone were all the thoughts about Ron and her potions professor when she slowly parted her lips and deepened the kiss.

His hand left her cheek and went around her head, holding her neck while his fingers played with her hair. A little moan escaped him when her delicate hand snaked around his waist and pushed her body against his. He leaned back and soon they were lying on the small couch, touching and kissing when suddenly the door to the common room opened.

"HERMIONE"

The prefect jumped up from the couch and stared at her boyfriend.

Ron was devastated. First he had to witness her lusting after the greasy git and now he caught her snogging thoroughly with a stranger. Her lips were swollen from the kisses and her face flushed. The blouse she was wearing was half unbuttoned and he could see a big passion mark on her neck. Hermione was breathing hard, partly because of what she had just experienced and partly because she was afraid how Ron would react.

Akash however had no idea what to do. He was highly upset that they had been disturbed, but he didn't want to get Hermione in anymore trouble either. Slowly he rose from the couch and was about to leave the common room when Ron spoke again.

"It seems as Rita Skeeter was right. You really are not satisfied with one boyfriend. You need the whole lot."

Hermione didn't reply. As fast as she could, she grabbed her book bag and ran up the staircase to the dormitory.

"Hermione, I'm not done talking to you" he yelled after her. "Hermione!"

"Ron! Wake up mate"

Just then Ron's eyes popped open while Harry was shaking him roughly.

"Whattissit" he slurred sleepily and pushed Harry off of him.

"You've been dreaming. Must have been very realistic though"

Ron sighed loudly. "Yeah it was... really crazy... oh my"

Harry went back to his bed and crawled under the covers while Ron decided to drink some water to digest the shock. This had been the craziest dream he had ever had. Never before he had dreamed what people where thinking. No matter if it was just a dream or not, he would keep an eye on Dudley's rat from now on. Then he gulped down the water and went back to bed.