A/N: This chapter is only from Draco's P.O.V, as there was no need to go into Ginny's due to it having been repetitive and boring, at least for this chapter. My apologies, but I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway!

Draco-

The silence in the room was louder than anything I had ever encountered. It seemed to reverberate inside my skull; a dull pounding had begun, and I recognised the beginnings of what was sure to be a splendidly horrible headache. I let nothing mar my features. I remained impassive. I showed no weakness.

He sat behind what had once been my father's desk. He was not looking at me. On the contrary, his eyes were closed. He was resting his chin on his long, spidery fingers, which were clasped loosely. Even the great snake, Nagini, made no noise. She resided around her master's neck, contented to simply sit there and watch me with her cold eyes, swaying ever so slightly from side to side.

Finally, without raising his head, without even opening his eyes, he spoke.

"And how was your term, Draco?" he asked, sounding perfectly calm, almost like an uncle, but I caught the threat behind those words, knew what he was really asking of me.

"I succeeded in winning the Weasley girl's heart," I began, trying to sound confident, refusing to wince as a particularly uncomfortable stab of pain drove through my head.

"Excellent," he hissed, sounding so much like his beloved snake. "And yet- something is wrong."

The red eyes snapped open, and before I had a chance to blink, he was standing in front of me, tall, thin, menacing. He was staring deeply into my eyes, and I refused to look away, knowing what would happen if I did- knowing what would happen when he discovered the truth.

I tried to remember Bellatrix's lessons in Occlumency. I tried to block him from my mind, tried to close doors I did not want opened, but he was the most skilled Occlumens the Wizard world had ever known, he broke them down in mere seconds. He was there suddenly, watching my attempts to talk to Ginny, watching and feeling as I had, knowing I had begun to feel more for her than I ever had for Astoria. I suddenly realised where he was nearing- he was about to see us, Ginny and I, in the Room of Requirement, on the sofa… I began to try to fight him off furiously, not caring about the consequences, desperately trying to refuse him access to this most intimate of moments, but to no avail. My body was suddenly burning, and I knew, even though we were both locked in my mind, he was performing the Cruciatus curse on me once again. If I screamed, I never heard it. All I knew was that he was there, in the Room with Ginny and I. I felt his disgust sear through me, nothing compared to the curse, but still there. Then we were in the courtyard, and he was watching us arguing, and he knew that we were no more…

I was on the floor of the study, sweat pouring off of me, my robes wet with it, my hair damp and hanging in my eyes. I tasted blood, and realised I'd bitten my tongue. I spat out the globule of blood, ignoring the fact that I was in my father's prized study.

"So," said the Dark Lord quietly, and I froze, terror gripping me in a way it never had before. "So…"

"My Lord-" I gasped, trying to catch my breath. "My Lord, I can explain…"

"Explain? Explain how you had her in your clutches, how she was yours to manipulate and control, how you could have used her in the mental unhinging of Harry Potter, helped in his impending death, and how you let her get away from you?" he hissed, showing the fury he was so famous for.

I blanched, and struggled to my feet, feeling unsteady as I did so.

"My Lord, I can do nothing but apologise for my blunder… I treated her as I had treated the girls before her; I mistook her for a Slytherin girl, as opposed to the Gryffindor she is… I forgot myself; I forgot whom I was dealing with…" I tried desperately.

"Yes," he said. "That much is obvious. You forgot that you were not dealing with one of the Slytherin girls, who I know from my old school friend's renditions, are surprisingly easy to coerce once you have them in your grip… I know as well as most how difficult any Gryffindor may be- remember, I faced Albus Dumbledore. But the strongest, the most noble of Gryffindor spirits may be broken in time. You should have waited, you should have waited!" He suddenly screamed, and I flinched backwards, hitting the wall behind me.

"My Lord-" I tried again-

"Crucio!" he screamed, and in a flash I was suddenly burning again.

Unable to contain it any longer, I screamed and screamed, more loudly than I ever had before. He continued the curse, never letting it falter for even a second. I was in a familiar place. There it was, the edge, if I jumped off the edge, I would be in sweet, blissful release from this agony… but no, the edge was the edge of my sanity, I must not go there, I must stay away I must- but it was lighter, oh so much lighter, beckoning to me, calling my name softly, like a lover's caress, I moved towards it, feeling a tiny bit less of the pain with every step…

And she was there. Standing just beyond the edge I had to jump off of, standing there beckoning to me, a serene, peaceful smile on her face… she beckoned to me, holding out her hand to take mine, her long, red hair hanging down her back, so smooth, how I longed to run my fingers through her hair… "Draco…" she called to me, "Draco…"

"Yes!" I called back joyfully, feeling the pain ever less now that I was so near to the edge. "Yes, my love, I am here!"

"Come to me, Draco," she whispered, smiling at me warmly, kindness shining in her deep, brown eyes. "Come to me, hold me, be mine… I shall be yours, Draco… just come to me…"

"I am coming! I am coming to you, my love! My Ginny, oh, I am coming to you!" I called desperately- but she was sliding away from me… I was moving backwards from the edge, moving back to the pain, back to sanity- back where she was not… "Ginny! GINNY!" I screamed, reaching for her desperately, clawing at the air in front of me.

"Come to me… come to me, Draco…" her voice was becoming further away, more of an echo than reality, nothing more than a figment of my imagination…

"Ginny… Ginny…" I was murmuring, I knew not where I was, but it was warm, and comfortable… I blinked, opening my eyes and gasping as the pain hit me suddenly.

"Draco! Draco, it is alright, I am here," came a voice to my left- the wrong voice. I turned my head slightly and glimpsed the white blonde hair of my mother, who was leaning over me and clutching my hand in hers.

"Mother," I mumbled, my voice catching in my raw throat.

"Finally, you are awake… do you need anything? Water, perhaps? Shall I have one of the elves bring you some up? I did not think you would wake today, else I assure you I would have had some water by your bedside, waiting for you… your father sends his love, he has had to go away again on urgent business, he was here by your side constantly whilst he was at the Manor though-" she continued to babble on in this fashion for some time, whilst I attempted to find my voice again.

"Water," I finally managed to cut across her. "Water…"

"Water! Of course, my child, of course- Hetty! Where is that accursed elf when you need her… Hetty!"

I winced at the loudness of my mother's tone, but she did not notice. Hetty arrived moments later, bearing a tray on which stood a pitcher of water and a glass.

"Set it down on his bedside table Hetty, now!" snapped Mother, motioning towards the cabinet to my right, and Hetty hastened to put down the tray without spilling a single drop.

"Is there anything else Mistress and the young Master Malfoy may require?" squeaked Hetty, her high pitched voice cutting through my like a knife.

"That is all, be gone with you now, get on with cooking for our guests," snapped Mother. "And close the door behind you!"

Once the elf had closed the door quietly behind her, my mother turned back to me. She poured me a glass of water and helped to support my weight whilst I struggled to sit up far enough to take a sip from the glass.

Cold, clear water trickled down my throat, and I suddenly gulped at it with abandon, savouring the fresh taste of it, not noticing as some of it trickled down my chin and onto my bed sheets. Finally, Mother pulled away the glass, and I gasped as I tried to catch my breath.

"What… happened?" I whispered.

"Oh… oh darling…"she whispered, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears. "He… he tortured you until you were almost gone… gone like… like the Longbottom Aurors…"

Terror filled me as I recalled an edge, and a voice calling to me… I had been so close to going this time, so close to letting go of it all and declining into the insanity that gripped so many of the Death Eater's victims.

"When you were almost completely… when you were almost… he called in Bellatrix and myself, and summoned Lucius back to the Manor," she explained, her voice little more than a whisper, her face bloodless and white. "He told us that we had to pay for your mistake as well. As part of our family, you had dishonoured us all… he told each of us to take our wands to you, and to carve the word 'failure' into your skin… we could choose any part of your body we wanted, he said… I refused. Immediately, I refused, and the Cruciatus curse was used on me as well. Lucius was difficult to persuade, but you know how he fears the Dark Lord… he did not wish to, Draco, you know he loves you, you are his only son, his only child, but… the Dark Lord had suffered one too many mistakes at the hands of your father. Lucius, he knew that if he refused, it would be death… so he did as he was bid. Bellatrix- you know how she loves the Dark Lord, how she places him above everyone. When it came to her turn, she did not even hesitate… I shall curse her until the day I die," spat Mother coldly, her face now set into a rigid mask of hatred towards her older sister.

"Where?" I whispered, and she knew immediately what I meant.

"Perhaps it is best if you do not look yet…" she said, trying to get up and move away, but her hand was still in mine. With what little strength I had, I held onto her, and she hesitated.

"Where?" I asked again, more demandingly this time, and she sat back down, a resigned look on her face, one that was mingled with terror.

"Your father's is on your right forearm," she whispered, closing her eyes and placing a hand over them. She had turned faintly green. "Bellatrix's is across your chest…"

I said nothing. I removed my hand from hers, and she knew that I meant for her to leave me alone now. She got up and turned to leave, but when her hand was on the door handle, something occurred to me.

"How long was I unconscious for, Mother?" I asked quietly, my voice still rasping slightly in my sore throat.

"Just… Just over a week," she said, her eyes brimming with tears once more. "You need not return to Hogwarts at the end of this week. You may go back when you feel ready. When you feel strong enough." She exited the room, closing the door silently behind her. I waited until I had heard her descend the stairs, and then slowly pulled back the sheets that were still covering my body.

I rolled up the right sleeve of the silk green pyjamas I had been dressed in, bracing myself to see the word carved into my skin. I winced as the fabric stroked over where the wound obviously was- it still felt fresh. Finally, my sleeve was rolled up to the elbow, and I took a deep breath, stealing myself for what I knew I was about to witness.

Turning my head slightly, I glanced at my arm, and then stared for longer, revulsion rising in me like vomit. I stared and stared. There, carved into my skin, still startlingly red and not even partially healed, was the word 'Failure', in neat little letters- my father's handwriting carved into my arm forever more. In that moment, I hated my father almost as much as I hated my 'Aunty' and our deranged Lord. This thought trigged something in me- I knew I had to look at the word on my chest as well, and I knew it would not be neat like the one on my arm.

This time, I did not take long about it. I unbuttoned the front of my pyjama top as quickly as I could, my numb fingers fumbling with the buttons. When my top was entirely undone, I took another, if not deeper breath, and looked down. This wound was jagged, larger than the other, such a mess that I could have broken down and sobbed. Such a mess of a scar… once the wound finally healed. I knew this was a stupid worry- that the scars would not be anything nice to look at. However, that was all I could comprehend.

I slowly re-buttoned my pyjama top and rolled down the sleeve. Reaching for my glass of water, I gulped down some more, emptying my glass and reaching for more from the pitcher. It was only as I grasped the handle and tried to put it up that I realised the weight was too much for me. I blinked, staring at the pitcher. My wand was nowhere around me. I would have to wait until someone came to check on me to have more water. Sighing, I resigned myself to this long wait, and settled myself back into my pillows.

Sleep stole over my quickly, but it was burdened with excruciating nightmares, and when I woke once more, my sheets were drenched in sweat.

A/N: I am a dreadful person, leaving you all for so long without an update. I have been in The Gambia for 2 weeks, and sorting out university stuff as well, as I have recently been accepted into Wolverhampton to study Education and English, so it's all been busy, busy, busy! Nevertheless, I hope you will forgive me, and I hope this chapter makes up for me being absent for so long.

Love, Beccari x