Chapter 14: Painful Confessions

Draco sat stiffly against the hard back of the wooden chair. Moody's magical eye stopped on him waiting for a reply. Draco wasn't sure were to begin. No one was ever supposed to find out about this- he hadn't even told Ginny. What would she think? Potter and the other Gryffindor's would have expected as much. " I went to one of the Death Eater meetings with my father once."

Moody looked at him suspiciously. " Is that all?"

Draco shook his head. How was the Order going to trust him if he told him them this? "I remember that night- it was the worst night of my life..."

"TonightDraco I have some wonderful news." Lucious told his son, a sense of pride just barely wavering at the edge of his voice. "Tonight you become a man."

Draco looked over at his father with curious suspicion. "What are you talking about?" One rarely trusted the man that beat you, and then beat you again because you cried.

"Draco you will now join your father as a servant of the Dark Lord, and one day you too will share in the glory of his triumph." An oily smirk appeared on Mr. Malfoy's thin lips.

"The hell if I will!" Draco shouted, pounding his fist on the table.

"YOU INSOLENT UNGRATEFUL LITTLE- you will join the Death Eaters and their is absolutely no question about it. DO YOU HEAR ME? The Dark Lord has graciously offered to admit you at tonight's ceremony and you will be there and accept the task that is given to you!" Lucious was furious and Draco knew it wasn't long before his father turned violent, but Draco paid no heed to the warning signs.

"I'll NEVER BE LIKE YOU- DO YOU HEAR ME? NEVER!" He shouted, filled with hate.

Lucious dark silver gray eyes, clouded over with a threatening rage. "Oh we'll just see about that..."

Draco bit down hard on his lip trying to hold back his anger. "He tortured me... tortured me until I screamed over and over that I would comply with his demands. That man is no longer my father anymore- he never was the bastard."

"So what happened?" Moody said, still focused intently on Draco's every word and movement.

"I went. I maybe stubborn- but I'm not stupid. If I didn't agree to go of my own accord that man would find someway to get me there, and I don't know about you but I don't really enjoy being tortured." Draco laugh was mirthless. "And as for what happened Mr. Moody- I'll show you what happened." Draco slid off his shoe, and pulled down his sock revealing a dark, scarred tattoo on his ankle. The Dark Mark.

Moody flinched at the appearance of the crude symbol, leaned back into his chair, his eye rolling around in his head as if he was weighing this newfound evidence. Oddly enough, Draco felt more relaxed and comfortable after getting rid of the secret he had been holding inside of him for so long.

He had been so ashamed of that sign on his body that at first he had tried everything to jinx or hex it off his ankle- he had come close to cutting off his foot when his mother came rushing into his room to stop him. His mother- Lucious didn't deserve her- he abused her, and as soon as Draco was strong enough he was going to pay his father back for every time he so much gave her a dirty look. He had more then promised himself that much. Maybe that is why he sometimes envied Potter so much. His parents were dead.

Moody got up from his chair, started over toward the door and then turned around as if he had forgotten something. "Don't move!" He growled. Draco didn't know what to do. He wanted to explain to Ginny in person, tell her why he had agreed to go along with Lucious. She had to hear it from him!

"Wait!" Draco shouted after Moody. He didn't even look back as the door clicked shut behind him.

It seemed an eternity before Moody came back into the darkned little room, followed by an aciently wizard with half-moon spectacles. Great, now Dumbledore knew him for the scum he was, why had he even agreeded to this in the first place. The old wizard looked at him with his grandfatherly eyes and Draco was suprised to see a smile cross his old wrinkled face.

"Mr. Malfoy if you would kindly show me your ankle."

Draco reluctantly pulled up his pant's leg and looked at the black mark shamefully. Dumbledore took out his wand and gently tapped Draco's ankle. "Majora Evanesco!" He mummered, and the Mark slowly began to fade, until there was merely a small scar left. "I couldn't remove it completely, but that will have to do. Now though, I do believe we have some rather vigorous planning ahead of us, wouldn't you say Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes sir." Draco said running his hand along the skin where the Mark had been.

Mad-Eye continued his grumbling, as he handed another small vile to Draco. "Drink this. It'll wear off the affects ofthe Vertriserum."

Draco swallowed the small potion and then was lead out the door by the two older wizards. The mummers and whispers died as Dumbledore cleared his throat to speak. "I would like to offcially introduce our newest member of the Order of the Phoniex, Mr. Draco Malfoy."

Ginny quickly made her way over to Draco and put her arms around him and burried her face in his chest. "I knew you'd do just fine." Draco could tell by the wave of relief in her voice that she was lying, but he didn't really care. Right now it seemed like such a bitter sweet moment in his life. He had everything that he could ever want, but so close to losing it.