A/N: Hello guys, I'm not sure if I could add links here but I just wanted to share a photo with you. It's a very accurate depiction of how I see Draco in this story.
I tried to make it as clear as this website allows: imgur -dot- com -slash- 4CFUFaO
Theo waved his wand at the small statue, stopping it right before it hit Blaise's forehead.
"You can kill Blaise later." Theo remarked coldly, "Explain." he ordered.
"It's a long story.." Draco said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"A long story that has been going on for a long time and Blaise have known about it for long while I was kept in the dark for too long." Theo deduced.
"You're overreacting." Draco huffed, "It had been less than a week since this started." he added.
"What exactly is this?" Theo demanded.
"Remember that mission I was sent on to capture Longbottom? Well, I didn't find him." Draco replied.
"Yes you were obviously too busy looking for another brunette." Theo mocked, "Draco, are you repeating that idiot's mistake?" Theo asked, nodding in Blaise's direction.
"If you think about it, it's not exactly a mistake." Draco replied defensively.
"Yes, you're right. It's a disaster. A fucking disaster waiting to happen! She's a Mudblood, Draco. Not just a Mudblood, no. She's the Mudblood!" Theo fumed at Draco, "It doesn't matter how much you want her; the Dark Lord will still want her head more." he went on, almost frantically.
"He can want whatever the fuck he feels like. I'll still get my way eventually." Draco replied with an indifferent shrug.
"Draco!" Theo exclaimed incredulously, "This is not the first time I tell you to watch your words, if somebody heard you talking about the Dark Lord like this you'd be dead before you could finish your sentence!"
"Theo, if somebody heard this conversation I'd have a lot more to worry about than my lack of necessary respect" Draco argued sardonically.
"I'm glad you realize how dangerous your situation is." Theo twisted his mouth is disapproval.
"I'm perfectly aware of that." Draco replied calmly.
"Then hand her over to the Dark Lord! This could be the best thing that ever happened to you; do you have any idea how great his reward to you could be if you were the one to capture her?" Theo tried to reason with him.
"What about what I want?" Draco argued.
"She's just a girl, Draco! More replaceable than you can imagine. I can help you pull one of Daphne's friends. There's this girl wh..." Theo pursued.
"Who?" Blaise interjected, cocking his head to one side.
"What?" Theo asked, swallowing visibly.
"One of who's friends?" Blaise cleared up.
"Oh..um..Daphne.." Theo stammered.
"Daphne..Daphne Greengrass..my Daphne Greengrass?" Blaise asked with a look of disbelief.
"Your!" Theo scoffed, "When has she become yours?" he asked incredulously.
"Well, not exactly mine, but we were dating for so long." Blaise amended.
"Yes and then you kept a couple of secrets from her. You know, those trivial details where you slept with Weasly and sort of got her pregnant...while you were dating Daphne." Theo recounted sarcastically.
"It's not half as bad as you make it sound." Blaise replied, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.
"It's worse and honestly it all started because of you. I was trying -as a friend- to fix the mess you left behind, and things just..escalated from there." Theo explained.
"Alright, I'll let you guys enjoy your pillow talk. I have work to do." Draco said quickly, nearly darting out of the office, ignoring Theo's calls after him. Grateful for Blaise's diversion yet unsure whether it was intentional or not.
"I'll have you know that my father: Tom Gawain, will not be pleased by this pairing." a grating voice pierced Draco's ears as he entered the wide hall that hosted the applicants.
"What?" Draco asked with a grimace. He turned around to see a much shorter, weedy boy looking at him with haughty brown eyes.
"You're Draco Malfoy, right? I heard some great things about your family from my father. I'm Peter Gawain, you sure are familiar with the name." the boy introduced himself with a snobbish tilt of his chin.
Draco looked at the hand extended in front of him and instantly decided to ignore it. He was too familiar with this. Abusing his family's name was one of the talents he developed too early. He looked at the other end of the hall and saw a young boy. Not taller than the one in front of him but bulkier, with sharper features.
The boy wore a robe with Drumstrang's name embroidered on it. Draco looked at him, capturing the moment where he aimed at a cherry on top of one of his friend's head, cutting it in half. Draco then understood the weedy boy's reluctance. If he ever stood a chance in front of the Drumstrang boy, then it was a slim one.
Gawain, Draco repeated the name in his head. He recognized the Scottish wizard, but he didn't want to give his son the satisfaction of it.
"And what seems to be your problem?" Draco demanded dryly.
"Well...I..I want to duel a different wizard." the boy stammered, taken aback by Draco's indifference. "This boy over there..is hardly competition for me." he added, in an attempt to save face.
"Then he shouldn't waste much of your time." Draco gibed.
"Peter Gawain and Aron Greger." Draco announced, "Take your places." he ordered.
He watched the boys as one dragged his legs reluctantly while the other almost darted to his place. Draco waved his wand, creating a sheilding dome over the two boys. A shield that can't be broken through...except maybe by the wizard who just cast it.
At some point, by the end of the duel. Draco stopped trying to hide the gloating grin on his face as he watched Peter Gawain fail miserably. With some assistance from Draco, of course. He should thank me for this later, Draco thought bitterly.
It was a long day for Draco. The constant pain in his neck made it even longer. His thoughts kept drifting away to Hermione's odd sleeping pattern. She moved a lot in her sleep. Her moves too violent sometimes. She moved, hummed, mumbled, cried, all while still asleep! Whatever it is that she had been doing in the past years, it stayed with her.
He nibbled at his food. Hermione was taking refuge in her room. He still didn't know what to expect from her. Another tantrum? Detachment? Calling her unpredictable was an understatement. When he lost all hope of her leaving the room, he finally decided to go for her himself.
"Tell me you haven't read all those books." Draco said as he saw Hermione cross-legged on the bed, surrounded by an array of books. He stood beside the bed, inspecting the books. "What's wrong?" he asked when he noticed they were all books about healing.
"Nothing, I just wanted to know about the..pregnancy spell." Hermione replied nonchalantly, still looking at the book in her hands.
"You have to wait for twenty one days." Draco informed.
"I know, I was just trying to see if it could be done any sooner." Hermione replied, finally looking at Draco.
"What's that?" she asked with a frown as she studied his outfit. He wore a pair of black trousers which she grew to realize was his trademark color. But what caught her attention was the long robe with buttons all the way from the neck to the end of Draco's torso. It was embrodied with silver along the line of the buttons. The robe looked like it fitted him more than necessary. It looked suffocating.
"What's what?" Draco asked, looking behind him then looking at himself in confusion.
"Can you breathe properly in that thing?" Hermione asked, nodding at his robe.
"I got used to it." Draco replied with a shrug, undoing the first two buttons of his robe.
"Of course you did." Hermione muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Draco raised a questioning eyebrow at her.
"Nothing.." Hermione mumbled.
Do not pick up a fight, she reminded herself sternly. She was going to deal with this like an adult. She decided to ignore the fact that this was Draco Malfoy for the sake of both her sanity and her integrity. Because her integrity wouldn't remain intact if she kept in mind that she was living under Draco's roof and willingly seeking his so called protection. And her sanity would be history if she didn't accept the fact that the man in front of her was different from the boy she knew on so many levels.
People change over time, Hermione pondered. But not Draco. He might have changed his attitude towards her, becoming more civilized. But wasn't that an essential part of growing up for everybody?
He was still a Death Eater: an enemy. He was still loyal to Voldemort even if his loyalty had faltered during the Battle of Hogwarts. He obviously restored it and made his way to the top.
Hermione felt the bed move suddenly. She looked to her side and saw that Draco had just thrown himself next to her. His hand was massaging the nape of his neck while he rubbed his eyes with the other one.
"What's wrong?" she asked, eyeing his stiff frame curiously.
"Long day at work." Draco replied curtly.
"Why? Did something happen? Have you found any of the..insurgents?" Hermione asked with her most casual tone.
"No, the recruitment have started." he answered.
"What recruitment?" she asked.
Draco took a deep breath, too exhausted to explain. "Every year we receive volunteers from all over the world. Witches and Wizards who just turned seventeen and want to become Death Eaters." Draco said as he sat up on the bed, "First they're tested for their loyalties, blood purity and general skill. Those of them who make it through the first phase are called applicants." he added.
"Each of them gets a chance to..show off his best spells." Draco explained, looking for the right words through his crowded mind. "Those of them who show decent talent, start the third phase where they're paired together for duels. The winners keep dueling each other until we have one or two winners eventually." he went on.
"Each year we have a target number of new members. So we go in ascending order. We accept the two winners and keep going down until we have enough members. This year for example, we're accepting the first one hundred." Draco said.
"One hundred!" Hermione gasped, "You..you..there are one hundred new Death Eaters every year!"
"Not necessarily. This is the first year we require that number. Last year we only needed fifty." he recounted.
"And all those Death Eaters are here in London?" Hermione asked.
"No, most of them are foreigners. They're trained here then they're sent to their countries." Draco replied
"When have everybody become so loyal to him?" Hermione mumbled almost talking to herself.
"It's not just loyalty. They do it for the status, the protection..the money" Draco replied thoughtfully.
"And you?" Hermione asked suddenly after a long pause.
"Me what?" Draco frowned at her in confusion.
"What are you doing it for?" Hermione asked curiously.
"I was born into it." Draco shrugged, "Plus, I was already a Death Eater when the Dark Lord took over. I just had to choose whether I wanted to be an active Death Eater or a dead one." he added simply.
"And it doesn't matter to you if your loyalty lies with the darkest wizard the.." Hermione argued animatedly.
"This is not about loyalty. It's about survival." Draco cut her off abruptly.
"But you must have some sort of loyalty to one side over the other." she pursued.
"I'm loyal to myself." Draco clipped, "And my family." he added after a thoughtful pause.
"Which is only your mother now.." Hermione said in something between a statement and a question.
"So far." Draco corrected, "But I don't think we're working properly on that part." he added with a wolfish grin when Hermione's eyes widened.