Underestimated

Disclaimer: I own nothing that is of the Harry Potter Genre...: (

Chapter 9: Trust is Not for the Faint of Heart

The figure, that was more creature than man, sat on an elegant leather chair, staring into the mesmerizing fire before him. He propped his elbow up on the arm of the chair, as he placed his head on his hand. The look on his face was one of frustration. After all of the hard work he had put in to his plan, it was all unravelling around him, twisting at his feet, making him trip. The Weasly girl was going to be his undoing if he did not get what he sought from her, and Lord Voldermort was far from finished.

"Lord Voldemort?" asked a quivering voice from behind his chair. The Lord sighed in annoyance at being interrupted.

"What is it?" he asked, growling slightly, as he flicked his hand, making the chair turn to face the young man. The minion jumped back a few steps, the fear that his Lord placed in him was crippling.

"I was told to tell you that young Mr. Malfoy has come to the Manor," he said, not looking at the thing in front of him. A crooked smile appeared on his face, as he pushed himself up off the chair.

"Excellent," he seethed, "Send for him at once! I wish to congratulate him on a job well done," With his orders, the young page set off to find the heir, glad to be out of the stifling presence of his master.

"Voldemort...has a...heir?" asked Harry, choking on his words, "How? What? When?" Draco rolled his gray eyes at his questions, of course, they didn't know. Dumbledore, the knower of all, must not have discovered her yet. Interesting. Draco started to walk in the opposite direction, as the two followed him, awaiting his next words.

"Yes, he does, Harry, and now is not the time to discuss it!" he said.

"This is huge, Malfoy!" said Ron, "don't you think we should know this?"

"Did you forget that you're mute, Stampy?" said Draco, eyeing him warily. Ron quickly shut his mouth, and looked around to see if anyone had heard.

"This is not the time or place to discuss this, all will be revealed in due course!" he said, walking almost at a run now, as he knew they were nearing her room, "We must focus on the task at hand." Harry was about to reply when he saw a Deatheater come at them. His immediate response was to pull out his wand and attack, but then he realized that he was one of them.

"Draco Malfoy?" he said, as he stepped in front of Draco, stopping his process. Draco looked up at him, his eyes sharing no emotion at all, but inside he was fuming.

"What?" he asked airily. The Deatheater grinned, and motioned him to follow as he commenced walking back the way he had come.

"Where are we going?" asked Draco, as he stood his ground.

"The master wishes an audience with you, and you must obey, he does not like to be kept waiting," said the young Deatheater, as he looked back at the heir. Draco nodded, as he turned to his two companions.

"The door to her room is down the next hall, two to the left, go there and see if you can get in, if not, wait for me there," he said, in a whisper. The other two nodded, as Draco turned, and followed the Deatheater to the last place in the world that he wanted to be.

The Lord of all that was magically evil, sat back down in his chair, as he waited for the young Malfoy Heir. He had sensed in his father, that there was something amiss with the capture of the youngest Weasly, that he was not getting the whole truth. Instead of knocking heads right away, he had decided to discover what exactly was going on, on his own. No one dared lie to Lord Voldemort, and he felt that Lucius was not that stupid. Perhaps he was wrong, for one would do anything for their child. Well, if that child is his only heir. Lucius would not lie out of love, for that is not an emotion that he possesses anymore, but out of necessity. What Voldemort had to discover was if it truly was necessary. A knock on the door signalled the arrival of Draco, and with a wave of his hand, the door creaked open. A silver blonde head peered around the door, not daring to go any further.

"Ah, young Mr. Malfoy, please, enter," he said, as the boy nodded and stepped into the room. The young boy knelt before him, bowing his head in submission.

"Please, rise," he said, "you of all people need not practice that formality in my presence," The young man gave him a confused look.

"Forgive me, master, but why not?" he asked, as diplomatically as possible for he did not wish to anger the Lord.

"Well, you are the one that captured young Miss. Weasly for me, I must thank you!" he said in explanation. Malfoy sneered, which was as close to a smile Voldemort figured he got.

"Thank you, Master, but I cannot take all the credit, my father was very instrumental in her capture as well," he said, bowing once more in thanks. Voldemort eyed him.

"It is not that you cannot, I'm sure, it's that you father will not let you take all the credit, I'm sure," said Lord Voldemort, and Draco looked away, neither denying or confirming his suspicions.

"You are mistaken, my lord, father is the one who should get all the credit, I merely stood there and did nothing," Draco explained, actually telling the truth. A version of the truth that would not end up in his death. Voldemort eyed him again, as if he was searching for something that Draco hoped he would not find.

"Yes, well, that is all well and good, but I must say that capturing her was the easy part," said Voldemort. Draco's eyes shot up, waiting for the Lord to go further in to detail. As Voldemort continued to stay silent, Draco got impatient.

"Master, but why is it the easy part?" he asked finally. Voldemort smirked. There was something odd about this boy, he seems too interested in how the Weasly is fairing, he thought.

"Why is this important for you to know?" he asked, egging the young man on . Draco turned slightly red at his master's question, and opened and closed his mouth, trying to form the words to explain.

"Well?" Voldemort asked, becoming impatient.

"I just-well, because I was apart of the capture, perhaps I could be of service now," he said, hoping that was enough to satisfy the Lord. Voldemort nodded, still eyeing him warily.

"Well, perhaps. What I want from her is eluding me as of late, after all of my careful planning, she will not give in." he explained. Draco smiled inwardly, as he felt immense pride in that fact that she was being strong. He mentally chastised himself, and looked once again on his master.

"Well, have you tried the Imperius curse," he asked, knowing full well that wouldn't work because he had heard his father say so.

"Yes, of course, I had already thought of that. But the nature of this certain task is one that must be done willingly. That curse is of no use to me." he said, suspiciously. Draco nodded, not wanting to say anything in fear that he would let his true feelings slip. Perhaps he had already done so.

Voldemort was sure that this boy was hiding something from him, and he did not like it when his minions were secretive.

"What is it that you are not telling me, Malfoy?" he said, anger seeping into his words. Malfoy flinched slightly at the anger he heard in Voldemort's tone. Yet, he did not give him the satisfaction of looking scared. Draco stared Voldemort straight in the eye, not yielding, or budging an inch.

"I do not keep secrets from my Lord," he said, simply. Voldemort nodded, still eyeing him with contempt. He would take that explanation for now, but he would get to the bottom of this. The Malfoy heir was not as cunning as he thought, and his father would be the one to pay.

"Fine. One more question, why have you come today?" he asked, reaching his hand up. Immediately a glass appeared in it, filled with a murky sort of liquid. Draco stared at the glass, not recognizing the potion inside, as he answered.

"I came to see about the Weasly girl, I am quite interested in her process," he said, his eyes never straying from the glass as the Lord lifted it to his non-existent lips. Voldemort let the liquid seep down his throat, the potion biting at his throat. He swallowed the mixture, and looked once again to the young man before him.

"I see, very well then. As I have already told you, the process is slow. But, I have waited years for this, so what is a few more months?" the Lord said nonchalantly. Draco nodded in agreement.

"Indeed," he replied. Voldemort nodded, as he waved him out, signalling his presence was no longer needed in the 'royal' chambers. As if to solidify this assumption, Lord Voldemort waved his hand, and his chair turned once again to face the burning fire. Draco stared at the back of the chair for a moment longer, taking in all the new information he had just received, and then turned to leave the Lord's presence. Draco wanted nothing more than to run to her room, but he knew that would be way too out of character.

"Is this it?" asked Ron, as he pointed to a door to his left. Harry merely nodded as he felt so close to victory. Harry was still undecided as to where Draco's loyalties ly, because after all Voldemort was requesting an audience with him. This could all be according to their plan. Harry shook his head to banish his current thought process, because he knew that his Ginny was on the other side of that door. He had to get her back in to his life safely. Harry didn't know what he would do without her. The young man didn't know when he had started to feel this way about her, but when she had gone missing, he almost went mad. He realized that he really could loose her, and he felt responsible for not being there for her. Why hadn't he seen this sooner, this attraction he had for her? He knew that he had taken her for granted, but as soon as they got her back, that would all change. Harry purposefully reached for the door knob, as a hand from his side shot out to stop him.

"What do you think you are doing, Jerrick?" asked a Deatheater. Harry looked up at him, at a loss for words. He stood there for a moment, as if suspended in time. The other before him merely looked at him with confusion.

"Do not worry, Hankton, he is merely checking up on the youngest Weasly, by order of our Master," said a voice from behind them. The one called Hankton looked to the new arrival.

"Malfoy, but I received no such order, and I am the one in charge of her security," he said menacingly. Draco sighed in frustration.

"That is because I was just with the Lord, and he told me personally," he challenged, staring the older man straight in the face, exerting his air of superiority, "you wouldn't want to disturb him now, but if you must, you may go and ask him," Hankton looked to ponder this for a second, but decided to let it go. Nobody wanted to disturb the Master when there was no need, this only served to anger him. The Deatheater nodded, walking away from them. Harry heard Ron let out a sigh of relief as he watched the Deatheater walk away.

"That was way too close," said Ron, in a whisper.

"Yes, quite," said Draco, as he waved his hand in front of the door, while saying something in the language of the snakes. Harry didn't have time to think about what he said, as the door was pushed open by some invisible force. Draco walked inside, and motioned for the other two to follow.

"Ginny?" Draco asked tentatively, looking around the room. His eyes settled to a hump on the bed. He quickly ran over to the bed, forgetting to mask his emotions as the sight of seeing her ran deep inside of him. Harry and Ron looked at each other, but also proceeded in to the room after Malfoy.

As Draco reached the bed, he sat down at the side of it, so that he was facing her. He noticed that her face was not peaceful as she slept, and that it was bruised and cut, deeply. Anger boiled up inside the young man, as guilt surged through his heart. Draco held himself responsible for all that was done to Ginny. He reached out to her to pull her hair off her face, as he whispered, "I am sorry, Ginny," barely loud enough for the other two to hear. Harry and Ron stepped forward, wanting to see Gin was alright as well. Ron gasped as he saw the effects of certain curses marring her face, and he couldn't help but feel guilty. He should have been there for her, should have been a better brother to her. He had failed her. As Harry looked to her, he felt the same guilt as the other two had. He looked away, the pain too great.

Ginny felt a hand caress her face, and almost thought she was back in the Burrow, and her mother was trying to awaken her, just in time to get some breakfast before the boys got to it. Ginny started to open her eyes, a smile on her face, but it was quickly erased as she saw who it was that had touched her. Her eyes started to fill with fear, and than out right hatred and rage. Draco looked taken back slightly, but realized that of course she would react like this. Ginny glanced behind Draco and saw two horrible looking Deatheaters. Ginny let out a small whimper, wondering what horrors awaited her now, as she pushed herself up, ignoring the pain, and edging to the very end of the bed. She wanted to get as far away from the three as possible.

"Ginny, please, don't be frightened, we won't hurt you," said Harry, his voice that of Jerrick's, which was cold, and gravely. Ginny stared at him, disbelief evident in her eyes.

"I shall never trust another one of you lot ever again, do not try to fool me with your words of reassurance!" she said, ever defiant, "Go to hell!!"

"No, Ginny, please, it's me, Ron," said Ron, still cloaked by the disgusting body of Stampy. His voice was no better than Jerricks. Ginny looked at him, closely, then shook her head,

"Please, do not try and fool me, I am done with these games!" she yelled, pulling her knees up to her chest, "just do what you came to do, and then leave," Draco frowned at her. Voldemort was so close to breaking her, that it scared him. What horrors had she faced in here?

"Gin, believe them for they speak the truth," said Draco, speaking for the first time since she had awoken, "I know that you do not trust me, but believe that I had nothing to do with your capture," he pleaded with his eyes, hoping that she would discover the words he so desperately wanted to find. Ginny stared at him, eyeing him warily. She wanted to believe him, she really did. But she did not know what to believe anymore, her life had turned upside down. She stared into his eyes, searching for anything that would guide her to the truth. She saw a glimmer of hope appear in his eyes, and smiled.

"Draco?" she said, tentatively, " what have you done to Harry and Ron?" she laughed lightly, as the others broke in to three very odd looking smiles.

A/n Here is chapter 9. I hope that you liked it! I am getting a bit discouraged though, because noone has reviewed as of late, so I have decided not to update again till I get a couple reviews. This way, I will know whether or not it is really worth putting it up here. Please let me know:) thanks guys, you rock!