Chapter One

Two hooded black figures walked silently towards a small dark house that stood upon a hill. A big snake was nailed to the front door and as both figures peeped into the shattered windows they saw nothing.

"This place should do" said the taller of the two figures.

"What place?" answered the second person in a whiny sort of voice. He barely finished his sentence when a small yellowing piece of paper was thrust under his nose and he complained again "Am I supposed to be reading this? I can't see-"

"Lumos" A small light appeared at the end of a thin wooden rod and suddenly there was a small "oh!" to be heard then "Nox."

A loud creak rang through the silent night as the old door swung open hanging onto its hinges with all its might. The two people entered the house carefully and quickly shut the door behind them. The shorter person threw back his hood to reveal pale blonde hair and an expression of disgust on his spoiled, pointed face.

"Are we staying here?" He said looking around. The small house had only two rooms, both were covered in dust. Small pots and pans hung from what he assumed to be the kitchen; a tiny corner of the room they were standing in. An armchair that had many holes sat in the middle of the room sat next to the window. A table with three and a half chairs were there as well and what looked like food that had laid there for many years lay on top of the dusty table surface. The remains of a fireplace were there too, though it just looked like a black pit. In the slightly smaller room there was just two tiny cots on which lay lots of half eaten sheets. The bottoms of both cots were sagging and the bed posts were broken.

"Yes Draco" the taller man said also throwing back his hood. He was tall, thin and had greasy black hair.

"Professor Snape……..…how long d'you think-" The boy Draco started asking almost nervously.

"Enough questions, we must get some rest, tomorrow afternoon we will leave, we have a long journey." Snape answered, sounding frustrated. He swept out of the room his long black robes swishing at his ankles. Draco followed him and saw his professor taking the long sheets out from on top of the cots and setting them down on the floor. "You will sleep here" Snape said then he made his way back towards the door frame and made a gesture as if to close what was left of the door but thought better of it and left Draco standing there with his mouth slightly open.

Draco looked around at the bare cots and wondered where his professor was going to be sleeping, hoping it wasn't a place better then where he was sleeping (on the cots), he sat on one of the cots as it gave a loud groan. He suddenly got scared. He thought of all the events that occurred that night. He couldn't believe he didn't follow the Dark Lord's orders. He thought of the old man that was slumped against a wall atop the Astronomy tower, his face and body limp with weakness yet those clear blue eyes that were still strong. They were pleading as he talked calmly to him, telling him that he didn't have to follow the order, he didn't have to kill him. It might have seemed that Draco wasn't listening to him to any bystander but in his heart he was deeply considering it. Thanks to the arrival of his fellow Death Eaters he couldn't do a thing about it. So he had stood there, his arm shaking with his wand pointed straight at Dumbledore and then Snape came and finished him off.

He didn't even have a moment to think about what had just happened when Snape had grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the tower and they fled. They then took a portkey to some village, walked about a mile then, arrived at this cottage hut thing. He gave a sigh as he sank back onto the cot, causing another loud groan, then let the exhaustion take over him as he fell into a fretful dreamless sleep.

Back in the other room, Snape had cleared off the table and was sitting on a chair writing on a piece of parchment.

Dear Narcissa,

I have Draco with me, we are in Little Hangleton. The job was completed, Draco could not do it so I did. We are making our way to you in the afternoon.

Severus

He folded the parchment and then drew out his wand and muttered "Retiscipo." The parchment flashed purple for a second then vanished. Snape put his wand back in his robes just as he heard a sigh coming from the other room. He turned, facing the window and saw a pink tinge appearing in the dark sky. He then folded his arms and rested them on the table closing his eyes for a minute then falling into a uneasy sleep.

A few hours later Snape woke up and saw that the sun had fully risen and that it was nearing afternoon. He stood up and brushed off his robes, then proceeded to enter the second room. Draco was there sleeping peacefully, yet there were dark circles around his eyes. He went to the side of the bed where he gently prodded Draco's arm. Draco gave a small groan then his eyes flew open, alert and scared.

"We must leave now" Snape said then headed toward the door but before he left he turned and said "When you are ready come into the kitchen and we can have some food to eat."

Draco looked around and started to remember the recent events. He got up and looked at a small cracked mirror and saw that his usually slick blonde hair was disheveled and that his face was unusually pale. He looked down and saw that his robes were dirty and crumpled. He tried to smoothen them out as he entered the other room. Snape was there putting two plates down on the old table. He saw that on the plates were two slices of bread and butter with a small flask of pumpkin juice right next to it. He sat down opposite to Snape and stared at his plate. He was very hungry but felt awkward eating in front of his professor.

"Eat, it might be the only food you get for hours" Snape said and Draco picked up a slice of bread and started nibbling it.

"I sent a message to your mother, I have told her we are coming" Snape continued as he too picked up a bread.

"Sir, are we going to my house?" Draco asked nervously.

"No, we have to meet up with some other people." Snape said as he downed his bread with some juice.

"Oh" Draco replied trying to conceal his disappointment. The moment he finished his second bread Snape stood up and said "Come we must go now."

He opened the door and a slightly hesitant Draco followed him. Draco looked around finally seeing that he would get the chance to see where they were. The place was cheery but deserted. The grass was yellowing with dryness but the air and atmosphere was sunny and warm. He took one last look at the place where he had spent the night and all the pleasant feelings were gone. Snape shut the creaky door and swept past him saying "Come", Draco walked behind him, not knowing whether he should trust Snape. Feeling like he had no choice, he ran and caught up with Snape.