A/N: And so I return! (With chapter 2!)

Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling, the wonderful weaver of words, it the one who owns Harry Potter and all of it's characters. That being said it's time to begin the story!

Chapter 2: Draco

He was running, running as fast as he could to the Room of Requirement. Dumbledore was dead, he had failed to kill him, but he was dead none the less. Snape had been behind him but just left to fight with Potter, leaving him to make it out of the school on his own. He dreaded what would happen when the Dark Lord would find out of his failure, he was sure that death would await him. He ran to the area and watched as the door appeared and ran through it and over to the vanishing cabinet that awaited him. He flung the door to the cabinet open and ran through it and found himself in the shop of Borgin and Burkes.

He was scared, deathly scared, and even more so when he felt a cold hand grab his shoulder. He turned instantly to see Snape behind him and was relieved that it wasn't someone like McGonagall.

"Come, Draco, the Dark Lord awaits us. The others that are left will catch up shortly," droned Snape's cold voice.

The boy nodded, fear still coursing through his veins. Everything was lost, all was hopeless, he was going to die, the Dark Lord would punish him. He looked down at his shoes, his blond bangs covering his eyes.

"Borgin, speak naught of this if you wish to live to see daylight ever again," droned Snape's cold voice again as he lifted the left sleeve of his robes and shirt and revealed the dark mark upon his left arm. Borgin had hastily nodded, his fear of the Dark Lord not only betrayed by his eyes but by his actions also. The man was cowering in fear behind his desk, too afraid to even speak.

The boy could feel the cold hand let go of his shoulder and grasp his arm. He figured that they were leaving the store through Apparition and found that he was right.

"He's here, My Lord, though as you know he failed miserably."

Snape's cold voice echoed through the room and the boy could hear the sobs of a woman, his mother. The other Death Eaters pretended that the woman wasn't there, but none the less the boy heard the sobs of his mother, Narcissa.

"Don't kill him! Please, My Lord, don't kill him!" she wailed.

"But punishment is only fit for him. After all he did fail," said the man that many witches and wizards knew as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or as The Prophet called him Lord Thingy, or as a few witches and wizards dared call him, Lord Voldemort. "Crucio," said the cruel voice as a thin smile crossed his lips.

The boy fell to the floor writhing and screaming in pain.

"Now then, with that as only a taste of what's in store, are you ready for what's coming?" asked the Dark Lord. "...I'll take your defiant lack of an answer as an insult to me. Death Eaters, you may now all turn your wands on him and repeat after me, 'crucio'."

The boy screamed louder as pain again erupted through his body, only this time multiplied by twenty. Why couldn't he just die? Suddenly he felt the pain begin to leave and realized that the Death Eaters had lowered their wands and that the Dark Lord was talking.

"Now then, Draco, are you ready to die. I don't think it will hurt, but then, how would I know?" asked the icy voice. "Oh will you shut up already, Narcissa, Silencio."

The woman's sobs ceased as her sobs struggled against the charm.

Draco was scared, he didn't want to die. He knew that there was a door behind him, if only he could pull it off. "Petrificus Totalus!" he yelled while turning and running towards the door before he could even think about what he was doing. He heard shouts and screams behind him but continued running. He had no idea of who he had hit or of what was going on behind him or of who was following him, all he knew was that he had to keep running. He felt something hit his side and looked down and saw his own red blood flowing freely from an open wound that someone had created. He held his arm out behind him and yelled out "stupefy!" He didn't know if he had hit anyone or not but he kept yelling it over and over again. He then took to running and finding a place to hide. He felt a curse hit his left ankle and stumbled, hitting the ground face first while pain exploded through his ankle. He rolled onto his back, sat up and saw about fifteen Death Eaters including Snape following him. "Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus!" he yelled while aiming his wand at a few before he felt a hard boot collide with his chest pushing him onto the ground.

He gasped in pain and whispered "impedimenta" while pointing his wand an the man who was half standing on him. The man went flying and Draco forced himself to stand and again run. He felt something hit him against his right leg and a quick glance told him that he was bleeding there also. He held his wand behind him again and yelled out "impedimenta, petrificus totalus, stupefy" while hoping that at least one of his attacks would hit one of the Death-Eaters.

He heard voices that sounded like Bellatrix's and Snape's shout out and found himself flying through the air with pain searing through his back. He felt his lower chest hit into a metal-like pole. He was falling through the air and pain was exploding through his right arm and head as he hit the ground.

Two warm hands grabbed him and he moaned in pain as the person rolled him so that he was lying on his back. He opened his eyes half way to find Alastor Moody looking down at him. He closed his eyes again and everything went black.

Draco woke up breathing heavily. He tried to sit up though fell back as his body exploded with pain. He looked around to see Cornelius Fudge standing to his right and Alasor Moody standing to his left. He was about to speak but Fudge cut him off.

"It seems," said the voice of the Minister of Magic, "that you and are responsible for attempted murder of Albus Dumbledore and with Death Eater activity. This place that you see right now is a room in a boat that is headed for Azkaban (which is now being guarded by a few aurors seeing as most of the dementors left). You will remain there for ten days and then someone will come to pick you up to take you to the Ministry of Magic. You've probably figured out why you're going there, unless you're stupider than we think you to be."

"Also," added Moody, "it seems that you've sustained quite a few injuries from the Death Eaters. Those don't seem to be healing quite as well as they should be, we did have a healer look at them yesterday though she can't seem to heal them all with just a few simple charms and such. She said to give her a few days to brew up a good potion to use. Until then you'll just have to wait and stand the pain."

"Joy, thought Draco sarcastically."So what have you done with my wand?" he asked coldly, not really expecting either of them to answer.

"It's right here and remaining with me until after a decision's reached on what's to be done with you," responded Moody, much to Draco's surprise.

"We're here," said Fudge suddenly

Draco forced himself to sit and then tried to stand but found himself instead found that his legs wouldn't support him and two pairs of hands grabbing him before he fell completely to the floor.

"You might not want to try to stand yet," said Fudge cheerily. "Oh, and we've gotten you a cell far from of your father's."

Draco looked down at the ground, he was secretly glad that he didn't have to be near his father. He never really liked the cruel man and didn't want to have to be near to him. If he were near him he'd probably end up insulted (if his father wasn't near one of the few dementors that was there) over either not perfect grades, not being smarter than Granger, or most likely how pathetic he was for not killing Dumbledore and ending up in Azkaban and not dead for defying the Dark Lord's orders. He knew that his father didn't have his wand, meaning that he couldn't really hurt him, but still he didn't feel like another round of his father's insults. (Or, for that matter, seeing his father in general. He also didn't want to be near one of the dementors but at the moment that seemed preferable over his father (who must have bribed the ministry to not have any dementors near him by the sounds of what Moody was muttering to Fudge who was trying his best to ignore and not hear the man's words).

After ten long days of agony, in which he got to see every memory that he hated thanks to one of the few dementors that Azkaban had left that was right near his cell, Draco looked up as he heard the voice of Professor McGonagall say his name.

"Malfoy, it would be time for you to leave for your hearing at the Ministry."

He nodded and let the woman talk with one of the aurors there and then watched and the auror muttered something that made his cell door spring open.

Draco sat in his cell, waiting for the Headmistress to come and fetch him. He had, earlier, tried to stand though found that he still had trouble putting all of his weight on his legs.

McGonagall took out her want and levitated the boy, annoyed that he wouldn't even try to stand. "Now then, you'll need to improve that attitude of yours before you enter into the Minsitry, Malfoy, unless you wish to annoy everyone there and end up in Azkaban until the day that you die.

It wasn't long before Draco walked (with the help of McGonagall) into the room that Fudge had selected. He looked scared as the chair he sat in suddenly was holding him in place. He didn't pay much attention as Fudge took role.

"Now then, Malfoy, you are being accused of being a Death Eater and intentionally attempting murder. According to Harry Potter, who is not present, at an encounter in Madam Malkin's when she attempted to raise the left sleeve on you robe you didn't allow her. And you know the Dark Mark, the mark of the Death Eaters, is located on their left arm. Potter says that he also witnessed you attempt to murder Dumbledore, get scared and then Severus Snape come and finish the job. Please explain all that you can. The more that you say means the more that there is us to judge by."

"Minister," said Professor McGonagall, "might I suggest you allow the boy the use of a potion to dull the pain that he's in and perhaps another one called Veritaserum to ensure that it's the truth that this boy's telling us.'

Draco looked up at the Minister, his pale face only becoming paler. Then he rolled up his left sleeve, revealing his arm without a trace of the dark mark and then did the same with his right. "I had hurt my arm and didn't want Potter, Weasley, and Granger to see that I had when we were getting robes. My father was with him and wanted me to get the dark mark but I refused. And then the Dark Lord, if you don't mind me calling him that, threatened to kill me and my family if I didn't kill Dumbledore. The day that Moody found me I was running from the Dark Lordand his group of Death Eaters that were trying to kill me. Had the Dark Lord not ordered that I try to kill Professor Dumbledore and threatened my family I would not have attempted to kill him."

"First I must say that you still returned to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and second I must say that only Death Eaters call him the Dark Lord," said Fudge.

"I returned because Snape took me to him, do you think I wanted to return to my death? And secondly I know that only the Death Eaters call him the Dark Lord, but so did Dumbledore so why can't I? As for the more I say, back at Hogwarts my father had the losers Crabe and Goyle trailing me all the time supposedly as friends. Mostly it was to at first assure that I didn't befriend any muggles as you so call them and then later to assure that I was working on the Dark Lord's plan for me to kill Dumbledore. Basically my point in being that both of them are Death Eaters, if you look you could see that they both bear the dark mark upon their left arms."

"Excuse me, Minister," said a short witch who had just walked into the room, "but I have brought Veritaserum and also a pain relieving potion for the boy. Also, the healer says she's almost finished the potion to heal the boy's injuries, until then here's a list of them."

"Well I'd almost say that the healer wants us to take pity on you due to you being hurt. Anyway we'll give you the Veritaserum and if you've been telling the truth then you'll get you pain reliever," smirked Fudge as he materialized a cup of water and dropped three drops of the Veritaserum into the cup. "Drink this," he said while walking over to Draco and holding out the cup.

"That be much easier to do, sir, if this chair weren't holding my arms down," Draco sneered.

"Oh, right," muttered the Minister as he waved his wand and the chair released Draco's left arm.

Draco took the cup and drank it's contents.

"Now then, Draco Malfoy, have you been telling us the truth?" inquired the Minister with glee, it looked as though he was hoping that he would get to throw Lucius' son back into Azkaban. His smile fell off of his face soon though, for Draco had said yes, that he had been telling them the truth.

"W-well then..." stammered the Minister, clearly shocked.

"Well then I know where we can send the boy," interrupted McGonagall, "seeing as he is innocent."

A/N: Well, well, well, do you wonder where Draco's going to be sent? Three guesses where... Anyway this chapter's six pages and not as good as I planned it to be, but from here on it should be better, much better.

Nanie-san