A/N: Hello guys! Yes. I am back. So sorry for the long wait. Like I said, Muggle world gets hectic sometimes. And then again, I become technologically retarded sometimes, so... (That's me indirectly saying that I screwed up my computer and had to repair it). But hey, look at the positive side. Here is a new chapter. I have the next chapter in my mind. So it should not take much time. Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not mine. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 7

When Draco finally arrived home, he was spent – physically as well as emotionally. He felt numb and he did not know if he wanted to feel again. He had been numb a long time ago and then, she had come along and made him feel again. But when she had been abducted, he felt fear. And when she had died, he had felt pain. Heart wrenching pain. So, this numbness was a welcome change. Or was it?

"Draco?" - A voice from the dining room made him stop in his path. He turned towards the source and entered the room to see his mother. Her breakfast was lying in front of her, clearly untouched. "Where have you been, dear? You look awful."

Narcissa was surprised when her son did not even acknowledge her, let alone answer her question. He was just staring into blank space. His usually perfectly-ironed robes were all wrinkled. His shirt was not tucked into pants. There was mud all over his shoes and his eyes were a little red. Had he been crying? If her son, Draco Malfoy out of all the people in the world was looking like this, then something very dreadful must have happened. It was not every day that he let his emotions show this way.

She got up and went over to him.

"What happened, Draco? You know you can tell me." – She caught him by his shoulders.

But Draco continued to stare ahead.

"What is it, dear?" – Narcissa shook him slightly.

Draco broke out of his trance-like state and blinked slowly, looking at his mother.

"She left me behind, Mother. She's gone." - He forced out.

Narcissa expected him to explode any moment now. And explode, he did.

"And I could do nothing! Nothing, damn it! I won't see her ever again!" – Draco shouted.

"I won't see her ever again, Mother..." – He collapsed into his mother's arms as tears started to trail across his pale cheeks.

Narcissa knew that no words would be able to comfort him. So, she just held him close and rubbed his back in an attempt calm him down.

He did not have to mention who the 'she' was. Narcissa Malfoy just knew. She had known about Draco's fascination with Hermione Granger since his first year at Hogwarts. She had also been the first person to notice the gradual change from his fascination with her to his love for her. Even before Draco knew about it himself. Of course, this had to be kept a secret because of the Dark Lord and Lucius. But they did find out eventually. It was when Lucius had presented his son before his Lord for initiation into his service. Voldemort had used Legilimency on Draco and Occlumency was not something Draco had mastered by then. That was how they had found out. Narcissa would never forget that day.

"You are a disgrace to your family! Loving a Mudblood?!" – Voldemort bellowed.

"She has a name!" – Draco shouted, even with Voldemort's wand pointed to his chest.

"You do not deserve to live." – The Dark Lord stated, lifting his wand.

Narcissa was on the verge of passing out. Her only son's life was in danger and she could not do anything to save him. If the Dark Lord chose to, then Draco's life could end with two simple words. But Draco was still defiant.

"Kill me if you will. But then you will not have any spy amongst the students. No one to work on the vanishing cabinet." – Draco smirked.

Merlin knows where he was getting the courage to smirk in front of the Darkest Wizard of all times. But it looked like it was working. Voldemort looked at him carefully, wand lowered.

Draco continued – "You need me. Snape can only do so much. I will serve you but at one condition. If you win the final battle, then you will not harm Hermione or my family in any way. They are to be safe and with me."

"Fine." – Voldemort consented, much to the shock of other Death Eaters. - "You can keep her as your mistress, servant, whatever. It is your choice."

The Dark Lord knew that Draco was a very skilled and powerful wizard and he could not afford to lose this pawn. He could kill him and his Mudblood after the War anyway.

"Wife?" – Draco pressed on, looking Voldemort straight in his blood-red eyes.

"You wish to contaminate your 'pure' blood by mixing it with hers?!" – Voldemort looked at him, clearly appalled.

As if on cue, three Death Eaters made disgusted faces and gagged.

"Crucio." – Draco simply said.

Instantly, those three men fell on the floor and started to scream in agony. Draco turned towards them and every other Death Eater backed away.

"You will not disrespect her. Not atleast in my presence." - Draco spat out. – "Do you all understand?!"

All the Death Eaters nodded hurriedly. Even Lucius. Then turning back to Voldemort, he gritted out – "You said that it was my choice."

"Then it is your choice." – Voldemort said, slowly.

Narcissa took one look at the Dark Lord and knew that he was impressed by her son, Draco – a young boy who had just crucioed three full grown men without even looking at the targets or lifting his wand. How he knew whom to target, was a mystery. Yes. It was obvious to everyone present in the room that Draco Malfoy was too valuable to be lost this early in the game.

"And do I have your word?" – Draco continued, not taking any chances.

"Yes." – The Dark Lord tilted his head to one side and stood.

"Well. In that case, I pledge myself to your service and accept the Mark." – Draco declared, pulling up his left sleeve and kneeling.

Now, her beloved son was lying in her arms, shedding foreign tears because he had lost the person for whom he had made the ultimate sacrifice and given up everything.

"Hush... Draco..." – Narcissa held him tight, trying to stop him from trembling. - "Draco, no one lives forever. You have to accept that fact, dear."

"But mum, she was too young to... to..." – Draco choked out.

"I know, love. I know." – Narcissa continued to rock her son back and forth, unaware of the wetness on her own cheeks.

Draco slowly rose from the floor and wiped his tears away.

"They took Hermione away from me! My Hermione! Oh, they are going to pay. I will make them suffer." – He spoke slowly.

"Draco. Calm down..." – Narcissa stepped back slightly.

"Calm down?! You expect me to calm down?! They killed Hermione! Do you even understand?! My Hermione, mum! And you are telling me to calm down?!"

Draco was looking absolutely murderous. His hair was all tussled, his jaw was clenched tightly, his eyes were blood-shot and he was shaking uncontrollably, his knuckles white from gripping his wand too hard.

His magic swirled and crackled around him. A vase shattered in one corner of the room and the chandelier overhead began to sway. Narcissa could swear that he actually rose a few inches in air.

"Felsh!" – She shrieked, hurriedly.

"Yes, mistress." – The elf appeared almost immediately.

"I need a vial of calming potion and immediate sleep-inducing potion each. Quickly!"

"Yes, Ma'am. Felsh will get those as fast as possible." – With that, he disappeared with a crack.

Narcissa turned towards Draco and called out to him while desperately trying to stabilize her voice.

"Draco love! Acting this way is not going to lessen your grief or anger! Please calm down son!"

But he was radiating magic so strong that even being in his proximity was scalding her skin. So, she was compelled to keep her distance. The chandelier, which was only swaying earlier, shattered and thousands of sharp glass shards rained over the two of them. Narcissa quickly cast a protection charm over herself and was about to do the same for Draco but instead she was amazed to see that the glass pieces could not even touch him.

This was the Draco who had impressed Lord Voldemort. Even in his teenage years, Draco magic was so strong and powerful that it could almost rival the Dark Lord's. When he took up the Mark and entered Voldemort's service, he was groomed and trained in the Dark Arts. And by the time his training was over, Draco was easily one of the most powerful wizards alive.

Even Voldemort knew this, and so made Draco almost his right hand. Only three other wizards had managed to impress Voldemort in this manner – Gellert Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

Narcissa thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Draco's shouts.

"I was trying to change! And I was changing! Damn it! Because of her! Now, you bastards have taken away my cause! So you don't want me to become good huh?! That's alright! Because I will now become bad! And I will make sure that you will regret that decision o f yours forever!" – He shouted, laughing maniacally.

Narcissa was desperately trying not to faint. Just then, there was a crack and Felsh appeared with two vials of liquid in his hands.

"Does Mistress want Felsh to feed Master these potions?"

"Yes Felsh. Do so immediately!" – Narcissa hurried out. She knew that any normal human would not be able to even go close to Draco without being burned out of existence.

Even though elves' magic is different, Felsh had some trouble getting close to Draco and pouring the potions into Draco's mouth. But he finally succeeded. For a moment, it seemed as if the potions were not working.

But slowly, the swirling and crackling of his magic stopped and Draco swayed sideways and collapsed unconscious on the floor. The scorching heat dissipated quickly, swallowed by the coldness of the Manor.

"Felsh. Please take Draco up to his room and make him comfortable." – She said quietly.

The elf snapped his fingers and took off towards the stairs with Draco floating closely behind him. Narcissa however went to the library and sat down in her favourite chair by the window. The events of the past hour had been terrifyingly unusual. She had never seen Draco behave like that before.

Hermione Granger clearly meant a lot to Draco Malfoy. But then again, how could she not? Everyone had to admit, Hermione was so much better than the previous girls Draco had dated. Hermione had been sophisticated and graceful and also carefree and open at the same time. But all those other pureblood girls were, well.., pathetically fake. Narcissa never understood what Draco saw in those other girls. It was a sin to compare Hermione to them.

Then she suddenly remembered what Draco had shouted earlier. It was true that he had changed and become better. But then, he had also vowed to go back to his old ways. Old ways must basically mean killing and torturing and all those dark things. And that was what terrified her the most.

Narcissa had heard that killing was like a drug. You kill someone and then you kill someone else to forget about the first murder. Then, you kill a third to forget the second. And before you know it, you become addicted to killing.

Yes, once upon a time, Draco had also been victim to this addiction. But with Hermione's arrival, he had changed. If he was going back to his old self, then it was guaranteed to be disastrous. Before, he was only killing to save. But now, he would be killing to avenge. The Death Eaters would not survive. That was for sure. But then, even Draco's survival would also be in question. Not his physical survival but his mental and emotional survival. And Narcissa refused to let her son's soul get shredded.

She shook her head. "I will not let Hermione's efforts go to waste. I will not let Draco loose his way in the dark again."

A/N: So.. How was it? Review, guys.

A huge thanks to all the reviewers. You guys made my day. Please leave your names as well when you review. I cannot reply to ANON reviewers, you know. Also, you might have noticed that I have not named this chapter. Can you all help me out with that? One more thing. I recently put up a Dramione poem and it's called "His Saviour". Please go and check it out on my profile. Tell me what you think about it. Thanks once again.