Disclaimer: As much as I would love too, I don't own anything that has been previously mentioned in the Harry Potter Books.
Author's Note(s): Fred and George make their first appearance in this chapter. They're two of my favourite characters, but they're so hard to write.
Just so you know, I only got this chapter out quickly because of the long weekend, don't expect it all the time.
+Memories+
The Tale of a Dragon
Ch14: Seek And You Shall Find
Draco regained consciousness slowly and allowed his vision to clear before trying to see in the darkness. There was a light coming from somewhere above him and it showed patches on the grimy walls where someone had scrubbed away bloodstains.
He reached up and put his hand to his forehead, where a headache was forming; the consequences of several rounds of 'crucio', as well as many brutal beatings.
Every Death Eater had gotten at least five kicks and ten punches in each, before Blaize took him off for a private torturing session with Voldemort. The Dark Lord had used legilimency then thrown some unknown spells at Draco (between crucios) that didn't seem to have any effect. Eventually, he passed out.
Draco looked down at his arm; the silver skull and snake glistened up at him in silver. He had a metal band around his wrist, and he traced the chain attached, back to the wall.
He was thinking clearly enough to let his head stop spinning before trying to move from his slumped position.
Brick walls, metal door, stone floor, small skylight covered in snow, chains covering the walls. Interesting room, (not).
Draco stood slowly and cursed at his muscles. Then he cursed the Death Eaters, then Voldemort, the werewolf that bit him, and then he cursed the world in general.
He realized that his chains wouldn't let him stand up properly, they were too short, which could be used to his advantage.
He pulled the chain taut and put his foot up on the wall, then the other. He pushed against it with his legs.
Three things could have happened then; He could rip part of the wall out, the chains could snap or he could break one of his bones.
Two of the three happened. Draco heard his wrist break the same time as the chain. The force of the chain breaking, and the sudden relief of the pulling, flung him forward and he went face first into the floor.
Blood started gushing from his nose and it seeped into his closed lips. If it was just the smell of the blood Draco might have been able to control Lycan, but the taste was too much and Draco's mind became fuzzy as Lycan took control.
A man sat in an extremely comfortable chair it felt like… velvet? He had an elbow on both the armrests and his pale hands hung off the edges.
A boy with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes stood in front of the man in a bow. He looked about seventeen.
"I know something you may like to know, my lord." The boy said clearly
"And what would that be, Zabini." The man said calmly. He had to be patient with his new recruits, he will break them in soon enough, but for now, they were ignorant on how to properly behave.
Zabini seemed to bite back a retort and instead settled on saying, "It's about Draco and Potter."
The man sat up straighter, though, it would have seemed almost impossible for him to do so.
"Go on."
"I think Potter and Draco have gotten closer to each other this year. And they might be more then friends."
"And why do you think that?" His patience with this boy was about to run out.
"I heard them talking in a toilet cubicle." The man raised an eyebrow. "They've been helping each other, and they've cried in front of each other, which I thought was weird 'cause the last time Draco cried before this year was when he was seven, and if he did I don't think he would let any one see. And then Draco disappeared for a while and during that time Potter went kinda weird and quiet and he wouldn't eat properly. Then he disappeared and then they both came back to the castle together. I saw them."
"Interesting… you may go now."
"Yes my lord. My Lord?"
"Do you find something wrong with my order?" The man narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"N-No, my Lord, but, tonight, why didn't Draco's mark work?"
"Because the Dark Mark doesn't work properly on half-breeds." He snarled "But I'm not too fussed about this. It may very well be the very weapon I've been looking for. Go! And rescue Draco from the Death Eaters' torturing. Then send him to me."
After a few minutes of silence Draco was dragged in by his collar. The man stalked over and grabbed the weak teen's neck. Draco gasped as he tried to breath. Then there were flashes of Draco's memories as the man preformed legilimency.
+Lucius was beating a young Draco with a silver cane in the living room. Bruises covered the child's shirtless torso. Draco's nose was bleeding and his lip was cut. He was pushed back roughly and his back hit the wall.+
+A slightly older Draco was crying into his silk pillow, his window was open and it was letting snow in. Draco shivered violently and wrapped his arms around himself, for warmth and comfort.+
+Draco holding a black haired boy, Harry, and letting him cry into his shoulder. Draco whispered words of comfort.+
+The two boys lying together in a bed with red sheets. Harry's nose was pink and he was asleep with his head on Draco's shoulder. Draco had his arm around Harry and seemed to be going to sleep.+
+Draco Lying on the ground with the full moon highlighting his face. A werewolf came closer and snarled. It sank it's teeth into Draco's shoulder dragged it's teeth up his neck. Blood spurted out. Then it ran as a Giant came closer, and scared it off.+
+Draco and Harry in another bed, which had grey sheets and a layer of dust, they were just talking.+
+Draco crying in his room with Harry watching from the doorway. Draco had his arms around his legs and was rocking himself slowly.+
+In the shrieking shack Draco was kneeling on the floor. He threw up violently as his body shuddered. He called out in pain as his face morphed and claws burst from his fingertips. Golden hairs grew from his body, and his eyes darkened into a deep blue with flecks of amber.+
+Draco pointing his wand and saying the killing curse at an older woman who resembled Hermione.+
Harry fell out of his bed and landed hard on the floor. He was tangled in his blankets and covered in sweat. His scar ached.
He had his own room in Grimmauld Place now, so it spared him the embarrassment of someone seeing him having one of his dreams.
Tears threatened to fall but Harry forced them back. Draco wouldn't have done that. He wouldn't kill Hermione's parents.
Harry got up and started pacing, stubbornly ignoring his building headache.
It wasn't impossible for Draco to do it. He was a very powerful wizard. But he hated his father, as far as Harry could tell anyway, and by killing Mr and Mrs Granger, it made Draco sink to his father's level.
And Draco was smart enough to figure that out, so maybe he didn't do it. It could have been a Polyjuice Potion. Yes! That must be it! A Polyjuice potion!
Deliberately forgetting Draco was there, because it was his memory, Harry convinced himself that Draco didn't do it and was framed.
Harry tried to remember the rest of the hazy dream.
Blaize thought Harry and Draco were closer then just friends. But were they? It seemed like it, and there had been a definite change in the way Draco had been acting, and Harry liked it. What if Draco didn't feel that way?
These thoughts were disturbed by another part of the dream surfacing in his memory.
'Poor Draco. Were the werewolf transformations really that bad? It must've been horrible for him to go through it alone'
Harry stayed up for three hours going over the dream in his head, every part made him worry more and more about Draco. Eventually he climbed onto the bed and fell asleep, cuddling his pillow, and he started dreaming (for some odd reason) about Draco in a pair of leather pants laying on a waterbed, then the dream continued from there.
Harry was first awake in the morning and he snuck down to the laundry with his sheet over his arm. It was strangely sticky after the night before, and was glad no one was up to see the evidence of 'The Draco Dream'.
He passed the wall covered in house-elf heads, complete with it's newest addition; Kreacher.
"Hey Harry!"
Harry froze as the voices of Fred and George rung out in unison. Fred came up on his right, and George on his left.
"What are you doing so early on this fine day?" Asked Fred, as he gestured dramatically to the window, which displayed the start of a snowstorm.
"I could ask you the same question."
"Hey!" George threw up his hands in mock surrender, "It was just a question. No need to snap."
"Sorry guys."
"S'alright Harry."
"What have you got there?"
Harry cradled the sheet to his chest and tried to cover it with his other arm. "Nothing."
Fred snatched it off Harry and he made a frantic grab for it. "Don't know what your so worked up about. It's just a she…" He trailed off as he found the stain. He looked like he was desperately trying not to laugh. "Don't worry…It happens to the best of us."
Fred handed the sheet to George and pointed it out. "Oh! … Well… Someone had a good dream last night."
Slowly, the twins looked at each other and exchanged grins.
"Don't tell anyone." Harry snapped, and he grabbed the sheet back. His face was now very Gryffindor red.
"Oh, don't worry-"
"-We won't tell anyone,-
"-Not a soul,-"
"-No need to worry."
…They were still grinning at each other.
"Pass the marmalade, Ron."
"Sure."
Ron passed the marmalade.
"I had one of 'those' dreams last night." Everyone at the breakfast table turned to Harry, who deliberately didn't look at the twins. "One of the ones where I can see from in Voldemort's head."
"Yeah, we know. What other type of dream would it be?" Asked Ron
Harry heard the twins snigger. "Some of the Slytherins in out year got the Dark Mark last night. Something went wrong with Draco's and he was given to the rest of them so he could be tortured. Then he was given to Voldemort and he used legilimency on him… Probably tortured him too." He tried to keep his tone light.
"We have to go get him." Remus said suddenly.
"Why. He's a Malfoy. Let the kid be tortured, 'cause he's not comin' here." Said Moody.
"I agree with Remus." Said Hermione
"Mad-Eye's right." Put in Arthur. "Malfoys can not be trusted."
Everyone stated talking at once, the majority saying he should be left there to rot.
Harry slammed his fist onto the table. "Why are you judging him by his family!" He almost shouted. Everyone fell silent and the air crackled with the amount of magic coming from Harry. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves! People shouldn't be judged by their families! Sirius is the perfect example of that!"
There was a pointed silence. Harry looked at his plate, disgusted at how quickly everyone had forgotten about his godfather.
Molly came out from the other room and put a hand on her husband's shoulder, obviously, she had been listening. "We should go get him." She looked at Hermione. "You should stay here, dear." She said to her. "And… rest." Molly had an odd gleam in her eyes.
Draco regained consciousness, again. He had scratched himself over his entire body, except his back, where he couldn't reach. He panted and kneeled in the middle of the floor.
He still felt as physically strong as he did when he was in wolf form, but knew it wouldn't last. He had ripped the other chain off the wall.
He grabbed one of the chains with his arm that didn't have the broken wrist and pulled it as hard as he could. One of the ends broke off the wall, so it was hanging down from the roof.
Draco pulled himself up with his arm and held the chain between his feet as he climbed up. At the top of the chain he wrapped it around his arm so he could hang there. He smashed the skylight open with his good hand and the glass shattered.
Snow fell in and Draco shivered in the cold air. He managed to squeeze out of the skylight and pushed himself onto the snow. He looked around.
Not much could be seen in the snowstorm. A silhouette of a mansion in the distance told Draco that he was in some sort of bunker away from the house, so there wouldn't be anyone watching him.
He looked at his arm. His wrist was swollen and a purple-black colour and he had bruises around the top of his arm that was in a chain pattern. His other hand was full of cuts, and he had glass embedded in his hand between his knuckles.
His shirt was ripped and bloody, so it didn't provide much warmth. He stumbled under a tree so he could lean against the trunk. He trailed blood in the snow as he went.
Katherine Fable stood in a room that looked a lot like an employee lounge. The fifty or so Death Eaters that were with her were all grouped off in threes, fours or fives, except her.
Kath sat on the table with her legs crossed while Severus lent onto it next to her. They were facing away from the others and were talking about Draco, as were almost everyone else. For the moment the duo were silent.
"Did you know?"
"Yeah." Kath sighed in reply. "That's why I told him to get in a fight in class, so I could take him to Dumbledore and say he should go to the Gryffindor table to eat. The Slytherin cutlery's silver, so he couldn't touch it."
Severus looked at her. He knew she always got down when they were doing Death Eater things, but she seemed much more depressed this time.
"Are you alright?"
"No. Not really."
"There's nothing you could have done, if that's what you're worrying about."
"Yes I could have. I cou…"
"You couldn't blow your cover."
Kath didn't say anything. She just looked at her hands, which were folded in her lap.
"They all beat him up for something he has no control over. He didn't ask to be a werewolf."
"Ahh, I see what's got you feeling so miserable." She looked at him. "It's the same way your friends acted when you were his age, after you told them you were half Vampire. They beat you up."
"You still remember that."
"Yes. I was so angry with them for that. Then I got angry at myself and… Well… you know what happened next."
"Is that the reason why you tried to kill yourself, because of me."
He took a deep breath. "I was a Slytherin. The people who did that were Ravenclaws. I was more prejudice then them, and when I found out that you, who brought the best out of me, who showed me I had a sensitive side, were a half breed, I felt so bad." He looked straight ahead, avoiding her eyes. "I'd always learnt that the only people worth knowing were purebloods. You proved that everything I knew was wrong. I started to think I wasn't any better then the Dark Lord. And I knew you'd never like me, even if you meant the world to me."
Kath put her hand on Severus's shoulder and squeezed it slightly. He expression went blank then she wrinkled her nose. "This conversation is depressing. Let's talk about something else."
"Like what?"
"I d'know. What do you wanna talk about?"
"No idea. What do you want to talk about?"
"d'know. What do you wanna talk about?"
Severus laughed. Kath always liked his laugh. It was deep and husky and it sent shivers up her spine.
The door opened and Peter Pettegrew came in. "The plan worked. Draco's broken out and Dumbledore's people are searching for him. So that means you can all go home now."
Author's Note 2: I'll explain more about Katherine being Half Vampire in the next chapter. I'll also explain Volde's plan then too.
I still need more opinions on a time travelling sequel.
