Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Ya dig?

A flash of lightning darted across the night sky over the mansion on the lonely hilltop. It was raining heavily, and it seemed that the storm wasn't going to show mercy to the occupants of the Malfoy Manor. On the outside the manor looked rich and magnificent, inside, the furniture left unkempt and blanketed with dust. The only rooms that seemed to be in somewhat livable conditions belonged to none other than Draco Malfoy. Who at the moment was asleep on his desk, across a pile of worn out books. Though in a deep sleep, it was a troubled one. The other room was occupied by the only two house elves that the Malfoys could now afford. There were boxes were scattered across the kitchen floor, filled with the tiny creatures. Draco allowed them to stay there, as long as they just cooked him meals. As for the rest of the house, he preferred it untidy, he was too tired to give a damn anyhow. He also knew the house elves were busy enough, attending to all of his needs, meals, medical care, and of course, running the errands for the Dark Lord when Malfoy was far too busy doing research. The thunder roared on through the night, but the lonely wizard and his house elves slept, even if it was with an uneasy feeling.

In another part of the country, Severus Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Narcissa Malfoy were in a dark room. The only thing that could be seen were the small, bright orange flames, dancing across the candles that were laid about the room. They talked in hushed voices about the events that had happened over a month ago.

"The Dark Lord seems to trust you now Severus." Bellatrix whispered in a tone that held both disbelief and jealousy.

"Of course." Her sister had purred. "You know he had to watch out for Draco. Severus, I'm a bit worried about him though!" Narcissa said fretfully.

"Oh?" Snape asked. He gave her a look, that was both perplexed and one of pity.

"In our letters, he seems so distant..." Narcissa said in a voice so soft that it was barely heard. "I think it was a bad idea that I left him all alone..."

Bellatrix laughed heartily, ruining the hushed atmosphere that was created. She looked at her sister with a look of superiority.

"Darling, you must stop worrying about him. He has the Dark Lord's protection. Besides, we were assigned to station this area. Honestly! It amazes me that the Dark Lord still has faith in your son. " Bellatrix said haughtily. Narcissa ignored her sister and twirled the wand she had in her hand leisurely. They had been in the room for an hour, awaiting orders from Voldemort.

In the tavern below the room, a crowd had been drawn in from the storm. The bartender talked affectionately with two young girls that chatted at the nearby counter, and the tavern was filled with old friends catching up. Some were there alone, drinking slowly, and lost in their hazy thoughts. It had a feeling of a timeless familiarity to it. There were wooden stools at the cherry wood counter. There were many wooden tables, covered with very plain pine green tablecloth. Even the bartender was a traditional outfit. It was a white buttoned up shirt, with a black vest and the matching black pants with it. He was quite big in frame, but seemed to have a calm aura about him. The barkeep, cast off from the young women, found a pair of customers. A young couple, if he wasn't mistaken they couldn't have been older than twenty-one. He gave them keys to a room, noting that he had given a room to three hooded people earlier that evening. A chill went down his spine; those three had a cold demeanor, and though were quite thin in frame, they were all quite intimidating.

He sighed, and resumed his mundane job mixing the drinks for the people he hardly cared for. He heard a high pitch scream from up the stairs. The lights went off, and the place was filled with the unnerving laughter of a woman and a man. Screams were heard all about, and as the lights went on, the couple that came in earlier was floating in the air. The sight frightened the customers, their screams of terror filling the tavern. The three robed strangers came down the stairs, one of the women laughing, with a sick, twisted giggle. She took off her hood, followed by the man and the other woman. They took out their wands and yelled out words that the customers couldn't understand. The dead couple were thrown across the room into the wall and landed with a loud thud. It was strewn across two middle-aged men who were panicking, yet sitting petrified as they looked into the hollowed eyes of the couple. Their mouths open ajar, it seemed as they wanted to yell, but their voices, like their courage had escaped them. The man with the greasy hair smirked, pointing his wand at one of the men and muttered something. The next moment, the man was writhing around in pain, with a tormented scream. The young girls nearest to the door tried to run, when the darker of the two women took out her wand and seemed to make them stop in their tracks. The robed woman's face broke into a deranged smile as she threw the two girls up against the back wall, yelling the Cruciatus spell. Both started acting the same as the elderly man. While the greasy haired man was occupied with the torturing the two men, and the dark woman occupied with the two pretty young girls, the platinum blonde went up to the counter and took out her wand. With a casual swish, she pulled the barkeep up from under the counter. While suspended in the air, he shook with fright. He looked around at his broken tavern, there were bodies laid about, some with pools of blood around them, most with hollowed out eyes and no signs of life about any of them. He couldn't speak as the woman smiled seductively at him.

"You poor, poor muggle. It's a pity you weren't deserving enough to be born a wizard, but oh well!" She laughed casually as she let him fall to the ground. She did another Cruciatus curse, and the man started to give out a blood-curdling scream. When he stopped screaming, she kicked him, and then muttered the killing curse. The quaint little tavern was no more, as the three Death Eaters looked around in satisfaction. The tables were smashed and the stools thrown about. Most of the tablecloths soiled in the patrons' blood and smashed glasses and liquor bottles laid across the floor like sparkling diamonds. The air was filled strongly of the unpleasant odor of blood and alcohol. The three left the cavern through the back and then the man cast a spell that sent a flaming green skull to illuminate the night sky.

Draco awoke early in the morning, startled to find himself in his books. Each day seemed to meld into the next; it was as much tiring as much as it was pointless. He looked out his window, his room overlooking the whole forest behind the hill. It was beautiful. The forest was a healthy dark green. Filled with signs of life, it put him at peace a little. He noticed it was just about sunrise; the sun was marvelous red color, the pink and purple sky complimenting it. It was one of the brief moments he had yet to do research for the Dark Lord. His assignment was vague, it was important though, his mother had told him that many times. It was to learn the ways of the different magical creatures that Voldemort had yet to recruit to his side. It proved difficult however; perhaps it was because he hadn't paid much attention in the Care of Magical Creatures courses. But he doubted that he would have learned much from that imbecilic moron, Hagrid. Right now, his goal was to tame Chimeras at the moment. But Draco couldn't see the point; many giants and dementors had joined the cause. He couldn't help but wonder if the Dark Lord was just sending him on a wild goose chase. But he soon shook that thought out of his mind and started to read in his books once more. After only minutes of reading, Draco heard a flap of wings. His owl had come back, with a letter. The envelope seal had two snakes coiled around a shield bearing an imperious V in the middle. He opened it and read it quickly.

Draco:

We are sending someone to help you with your studies. She will be arriving in a matter of minutes.

The unsigned letter soon crumbled up into ashes, as Draco stood dumbfounded. He hadn't seen people in weeks; it was quite a bit of shock. He quickly checked his appearance quickly in the mirror. Draco looked horrid. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his gray eyes were now dull. His blonde hair no longer had a healthy sheen and his frame was no longer fit from playing Quidditch. But instead, he was far too thin from sleepless nights and far too many skipped meals. He thought to himself," Great. I get to look horrible in front of a girl," as he rushed to get ready for arrival, he heard a pop from behind him.

Author's Notes

So it has been a good while since I actually wrote anything. Anyway…the whole tavern scene was violent…but I dunno…I need like input on it. I am planning on making this a pretty violent fic…and was probably should know what the hell I am doing y'dig? Wow I haven't used that expression in forever. Anyway…big thanks to my beta reader ElfGirl4---she writes brilliantly! Go read her stuff (AFTER YOU REVIEW!)

So yes…please review :D

p.s. this was pretty short…maybe should I make it a bit longer?