Authors Note: No more school until September, so there should be lots of updates on my part. This story isn't looking to be too long by the end, so I estimate about another four chapters until I throw my lot in and call it a day on this. I have some big plans which are quite complicated, so please ask questions if I confuse you anywhere! This chapter has no interaction between Draco and Hermione and I have brought in yet another character. This will not be as straightforward as maybe 'Tomorrows Yesterday'. There is only a hint of a spoiler but it shouldn't interfere with those who haven't read the book. In fact you probably won't notice it because its that small a point! Enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following characters. If I did I would be a very rich lady.

Inclination

Chapter Six

Being alone in the world is an ugly fear. It is like a monster that wreaks and consumes everything in sight. When the humming of the universe seems too loud for you, you seek to be alone in the world. Then in the darkness, you can hear nothing and it scares you. Loneliness stings like a wound…

 

Draco sat at his desk, swinging backwards and forwards on his chair. His brows were furrowed in concentration as his eyes scanned over a piece of parchment in front of him. From anyone looking into the scene it seemed reminiscent of Scrooge on Christmas day. There was no look of celebration or even a hint that it was a joyous time for the world. All that seemed apparent was that the heir to the Malfoy estate in Wiltshire was in deep thought. His mind consumed by whatever was jotted down on a simple piece of paper.

A closer look would show us that he had good reason.

He leant back in his chair, allowing the parchment to slip away from his fingers and lay deserted upon the table top. It was too much, he considered as his eyes moved from the parchment to the door. They couldn't be expecting this much of him surely? After all he was only human.

The paper taunted him though. Could it possibly all be a lie?

No.

His eyes closed and he took a deep calming breath. There was no good to be found in losing his patience with the world in general. He had seen the consequences of that before, and no amount of shouting would stop the world from turning on its axis quite happily. It seemed to him that there never was enough time in the world even when you felt there was.

It had been midnight when he had finally fallen asleep. He didn't know how long he had lain there, thinking about everything and nothing, but it seemed like a long time then. His thoughts at the time had alternated from Hermione to Voldemort and back. A strange combination, he realised, but one that was increasingly haunting his dreams.

When Draco had first gained the dark mark, he had whimpered and cried for hours. He had known this is what he would become for years leading up to it, but now it had happened he wished for the entire world that he could escape it. With a knife he had hacked at the raw flash to no avail. The hideous thing still scorned him.

That night Lucius had beaten the tears from his body. No son of his would cry over such a privilege like a weak fool.

Having no school to attend Draco was forced to stake a claim in his own future. Though Lucius had offered one with many advantages, he had decided that he wanted to do something normal. The excitement of doing something so against his father's wishes was exhilarating. For the first time he had felt free of the hands that were slowly suffocating him to death.

The problem had been though that he had no idea of what he should do. After Hogwarts there seemed to be nothing that could fill in that void left. He felt at a loss, but was unable to console himself with any task. It was at that point in his life that he had been approached by Snape, the man who had once been his Potions teacher. Apparently there were many rewards to betraying your family and so he had joined a special branch that catered in double agents.

Revenge is a dish best served cold, they say.

With the sweet enticement of revenge though, came the nightmares. Any follow of Voldemort would argue that they weren't nightmares, simply messages from the Dark Lord himself. Draco knew what they really were though and no amount of talk could convince him other wise. How could watching yourself kill men and women not be a nightmare?

Snape had warned him of these, offering a remedy to the plague of his mind. So Draco had begun to learn occlumency to block out the Dark Lords invasion into his mind. He could read his memories and turn them against him whenever it pleased. He could cause him pain beyond belief at the drop of a hat. That was his way of controlling his men. If they stepped out of line then they would suffer unimaginably.

The occlumency usually worked for him though and eventually he had been able to sleep soundly without the disturbances.

Now though a fresh batch of visions were piercing through his mind. They were so strong that he couldn't block them and the message was clearer then day. If Draco didn't do what was required of him, he would pay the consequences.

Hermione, he thought as he rocked his chair back and forth slowly. It had been an unexpected factor in the equation. Her presence in the school was causing him considerable problems. In his mind it was all her fault for the nightmares coming back to cut away at his nerves. Soon he would hit that low again where he was unable to hold a cup without the liquid shaking with his nervousness.

'Professor Malfoy?'

He looked up with a scowl, but was confronted by something far from what he was expecting. Instead of the snotty nosed brat asking stupid questions about the properties of wolfbane, there was a tall slim woman. Her hair trailed down her back in curly waves in all its red splendour. A slight smile tugged at his lips.

'Miss Weasley, what an unexpected visit this is,' he said smoothly to show no surprise. 'I have to say I didn't think you would actually instigate any meeting. Especially one as public as this on Christmas Day.'

Ginny smiled slightly and closed the Potion's room door behind her. 'It's good to keep you on your toes. You never know who else might pay an unexpected visit in the near future.'

'I'll take that as a warning instead of just woman's intuition.'

With a nod of her head, she walked down the row between the desks, and sat down in the chair opposite him. She wore a welcoming smile and seemed to look perfectly at home in the classroom. His eyes automatically glanced down to her hand, for any indication of a wedding band. There was none to be seen.

'Blaise told me I should come and check up on you. I think he's worried about your mental health, even though he would never actually say it out loud.' Her calm exterior made Draco frown slightly. 'I've read your reports and I have to say I agree with him. You shouldn't be running yourself into the ground like this. It could hinder the mission if you were, for example, to be too knackered to move your behind and work.'

'What worries you more,' he asked quietly, 'the fact I'm having these visions or the knowledge that I would love to carry them out?'

She stayed silent and gazed at him blankly. Draco welcomed the silence. It allowed him to gather his thoughts after her unexpected intrusion. There was a slight tug of war going on in his head. Should he lie or be honest? If he lied then it would be easy for him to breeze through her inspection. Then again if she found out he would be in trouble for lying.

'What worries me most is that you have a tendency to be reckless,' she said delicately. 'Whether or not this plan appeals to you is of no concern to the Order at the present time.'

'Oh, so your speaking for the Order then are you?' he wrinkled his nose slightly. 'I should have known you wouldn't just come out of concern for my well being.'

'I realise that you are having problems with this mission. Hermione should not be a distraction though. You should be able to carry on as if she were not here. It is vital that you stay in control of the situation. If you cock up and the Ministry find out, it will only fuel their campaign to set you out after Snape. We can't have you out in the cold on this one Malfoy.'

Silence again wreaked its havoc across the room. This wasn't going to swing his way, he considered as he watched her. She was not going to back down. That didn't mean he had to though, he thought with a hint of a smile.

'Do you know what it feels like to be so close to someone you want desperately, but can't have? The one person being everything you despise, yet you find yourself craving them. Then on top of that to be told you are to do unspeakable things to her, just so precious Potter doesn't come snooping round the Orders business.,' he shook his head, 'I don't think you could ever understand.'

'I understand you might be reluctant to do anything to hurt her. It is in her best interests though if she is removed from the school for now. There's no need for it to be permanent,' Ginny said calmly.

'You're scared I will do what I've seen in those visions, aren't you?' his voice was quiet again and was obviously unsettling for the woman sat across from him.

'The Order feels you may stray from the path of the righteous. There have been cases where Death Eaters are unable to control the mark and are forced to undergo hideous things to relieve themselves of the pain.' There was a long pause as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. 'I know what you're thinking though. Believe me when I say that this is not an issue of mistrusting you. We must be cautious though. Not only could she distract you from your duties, but she could get hurt if you lose control.'

Draco picked up the piece of paper that was lying in front of him. His eyes scanned over the text again and then looked up at her in an accusing manner. 'Is that any reason to do what the Ministry thinks should be done?'

'We can't ignore the Ministry's wishes.'

'You might not be able to,' he touched his wand to the piece of paper, 'but I can.'

With that the paper flared up in a blaze of orange flames that climbed up the paper slowly, destroying it as it went. He watched it with grim satisfaction before dropping it into the bin and allowing it to burn out of its own accord.

'I refuse to plant those things in her belongings for the Ministry to find. If anything it would make Potter more nosy and overbearing. Also they seem to be overlooking the little factor of Dumbledore. He would not think this to be true. He would know it was me who set it up and I can't lose that trust while I'm here.' He ran a hand through his hair. 'Merlin, she's only been here for a couple of weeks, and none of that is actual teaching.'

'Malfoy, you are trying the Ministry's patience.'

He nodded in acceptance.

Ginny sighed and gave him a pleading look. 'I knew you would still hold a certain affection for her, and I agree that this is unfair play by the Ministry. If it were entirely up to the Order, we would rather have you leave the situation as it were.'

She's scared, he thought to himself. Scared of what though? Maybe it was the fact that Draco was so close to being thrown out of the Order. Maybe it was fear for her friend. Or maybe she was scared of the entire situation and he wouldn't blame her if she was. In all honesty so was he.

'I…I can't do that to her,' he murmured.

'The nightmares, when you see her what is she doing?' Ginny asked quietly as if scared of asking. This was not a Ministry question - this was her own curiosity coming into play.

'Do you want to know Weasley?' his voice was low and dangerous. 'Do you really want to hate me?'

'I need to know Malfoy. It is a matter of translating the dreams so we can formulate a plan to fool Voldemort into thinking you are doing what he wishes.'

'So be it on your own head,' he said as he crossed his arms across the chest. 'We're making love in my chambers. She's beneath me with her eyes closed and I can feel myself smiling with happiness. Soon though the room begins to get darker and she opens her eyes. The look of horror and disgust on her face makes me feel incredibly angry. She opens her mouth to scream, but my hands wrap round her throat and slowly I begin to throttle her. When she finally stops thrashing beneath me, I finish what I started and get up to have a shower.'

Ginny's hand covered her mouth as she gazed at him.

'That's only one of the scenarios. I won't bother you with the rest.'

'Tonight,' she said in a whisper, 'I want you to make sure you stay away from her. If you even lay a finger on her I will know.'

'Don't worry your scruffy little head,' he sneered, 'I wouldn't even dream of it.'

The joke was met with more uncomfortably silence. Well if the Ministry wanted him to put those dark magical books into her bag, they would be disappointed. He would not destroy her character like that because she didn't deserve it. Sure she annoyed him and he often wished she would stop preaching in that whiney little voice of hers, but to drag her character through the dirt in front of an entire school. That was low even for his standards.

The Death Eaters on the other hand felt the new teacher was a threat. If they learnt enough about defence, Dumbledore would have an army to use against them. So Voldemort had spent the past two weeks sending Draco visions of death. He wanted him to dispose of Hermione by using seduction to lull her into a false sense of security. He was using his memories to entice him to do the crime.

Ginny was probably here because Blaise had read the reports. He would be worried about Draco going over board and giving into his desires for the girl. Well he wouldn't do that. With all the pressure put on him, there was no time left to actually have sex. All night every night he had little sleep because he was training himself to become a teacher. It was easy enough in theory and he hadn't thought it difficult until he had started to plan lessons. He might not be there initially to teach but it was still something he would eventually have to do.

Tonight would be the Christmas ball and he knew he would be tempted to seduce Hermione. He always had loved things he couldn't have – this time though nothing would happen because he would distance himself from her.

'Is Zabini back from where ever it was he was going?' Draco questioned to lighten the mood.

'He should be back by tomorrow at the latest. He needs to be at Percy Weasley's hearing on the 28th and I can't exactly write him a speech to say while he's there. I know he wishes I would though.' Ginny was smiling impishly and there was a slight tint to her cheeks.

'Still not given into his charms yet then?' he questioned with a lazy drawl.

'Certainly not! I have Harry now and I don't intend to stray far,' the blush intensified on her cheeks, making him smile. 'Oh leave it alone Malfoy! You and I both know that Blaise isn't actually likely to commit to a relationship with a Gryffindor Weasley.'

'It's happened before Virginia.'

…and you beg for a companion – someone to hold your hand while you stumble through the dark. The problem comes when being alone becomes the only thing you can live with. You are separated from civilisation by a wafer thin layer, making you feel like the most insecure, lonely and desperate person ever to breathe. From the ashes though something will rise and that little inclination will begin to creep upon you.

Authors Note 2: As ever I appreciate your opinions on the chapter, so please review. So far I've been amazed by the response to this story. Hopefully I can keep up this supposed good work! Anyway, in the next chapter I will probably use Hermione's point of view as I begin to explore the happenings of the ball – something to think about there…