Ch.8: Devouring the Hourglass

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"There's something I've been meaning to ask you. . ."

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The Jump City Mall hadn't been hard to get into. On the contrary, it had been as simple as waltzing in through the double-doors.

The place was nearly empty of people save for a few scared stragglers who were running around in circles searching for loved ones. After forcing two of them out the door, Raven and Robin continued through the large department store trying to remember the shortest way to the main doorway leading to the rest of the mall.

Bright lights and many sounds enveloped them as they continued on, television screens glowing and the bass from display radios sending quivers through them in rhythm with a rock song currently being played. Digital cameras watched them carefully from their stands revealing two passing blurs in the mini-display screens.

"They were near the food court." Robin said, knowing that Raven was listening, "We're in the electronics section right now. There's a shortcut through the-"

"Ah, I see you made it alright." A heavy British voice drawled over the store intercom. Robin scowled, his gloved green fists clenching in anger as he stopped abruptly, nearly making Raven run into him. He searched frantically for the source of the voice, his gaze scanning the ceiling tiles frantically.

"Where are they!" He yelled. Raven's eyes flitted around them, her hands twitching beneath her cloak. If need be, she was ready to shield herself and Robin.

Her hands flew up as she noticed movement in the corner of her eye, a shield forming around the two Titans. The movement she had seen was Mad Mod appearing simultaneously on all the television screens around her and Robin, a smirk on his features as his eyes bore into them from all directions.

Instinctively Raven positioned herself back-to-back with Robin, her shield slowly coming down.

"What have you done to them!" Robin asked, glaring daggers at one of the screens.

"They're all a little 'tied up' right now."

Mad Mod laughed at his own little joke, turning back to Robin and Raven on his screen.

"Now, I've been a little bored lately, so I thought we'd, oh I don't know, spruce things up with a little game. How 'bout it, eh?" His blue eyes widened behind the rims of his small circular glasses, excitement in his aura.

"We don't do croquet." Raven put in dryly.

Mad Mod frowned at her, waving the comment away. "Now my little duckies, you see Big Ben over there?" He pointed behind them, Robin and Raven turning cautiously. Raven couldn't help but roll her eyes, and Robin simply gawked.

"Gimme a break." He muttered.

Slumped against the far wall was a large man in the electronics section uniform, unconscious and with a digital clock set to 30:00 and blinking in his chubby arms. His nametag read in large black letters, "Ben."

"Our little friend is counting down the time for you, duckies!" A large grin spread over his face on the television screens surrounding the two titans. "See, the two lads behind me are quite the nappers." He shifted sideways, revealing an unconscious Cyborg and Beast Boy tied up and slumped against each other on the floor, their backs supporting each other. Their mouths were covered with tape. I don't think they want to leave just yet, so I don't mind watching over them for a while, you know? Maybe have that tea with them finally. . ."

"Where's Star!" Robin snarled, glaring at one of the screens in front of him. Mad Mod laughed.

"The little lass is busy right now, trying to fend the soldiers off. I don't think she's having much luck though, eh? With all of you currently wasting your time here, and all." He shrugged nonchalantly, sighing dramatically.

"You don't exactly have much time you know." he said, looking at his watch with a raised brow. "Oh, will you look at that? Down to twenty-five minutes, what a shame."

"Robin, come on." Raven grabbed his arm, jerking him away roughly before the Boy Wonder could hurl an insult and waste more of their precious time.

"Oh, and as for the bloke back home, don't worry about him. I'm sure he won't mind if I stop in for a chat." Raven and Robin froze for a moment, turning just in time to see Mad Mod readjust his rectangular, tinted glasses, a Cheshire smirk appearing on his face before the television screen went blank.

"I was born."

Now what in bloody hell could she have meant by that?

The Malfoy heir sat silently on the couch, his mind trying to wrap itself around everything that had been said and done. Unfortunately, it was like trying to put a 500 piece puzzle together made of clear glass pieces that all looked the same.

Where was that Mudblood when she was needed? It was at moments like these that he knew that Granger came in handy, no matter how irritable and annoying she may be. He knew for a fact, though grudgingly and would never breathe a word of his opinion on such, that it had been that frizz ball for hair that had gotten Potter out of quite some stints.

Though he doubted he would ever willingly tell her anything.

Especially now that he had helped murder the golden trio's favorite professor and all. . .not to mention caused quite some pain to their lackeys when escaping Hogwarts. Ever since then, things had been a blur of events he preferred not remembering, and as such tried unsuccessfully to shove them to the dark corners of his mind.

Funny, he was trying to shove something back and at the same time coax someone else's darkness out.

Raven.

She was such an enigma that he didn't know whether he understood or not.

At some levels, they seemed to be in perfect sync. But on others, they were totally different.

Draco wondered fleetingly if she had gotten the chance to go to Hogwarts, what house she would have been in. His mind screamed Ravenclaw, as predictable as it sounded. She certainly did fit the epitome profile of perfection for them.

For a moment an image of her and a brunette haired young man meeting crossed his mind. What would it have been like, having Potter meet the Titans? If it ever happened, he somehow felt that no matter how much Raven would push him away, Potter would somehow get through to her. It was just what a goody two shoes like him would do.

This made a scowl reach his pale features.

Potter.

"Past not so nice, eh?" He jumped at the sudden interruption, turning sharply to the front door of the den. His heart suddenly jumped to his throat as his eyes narrowed, his fists clenching and unclenching as he rose slowly from the couch. One of his hands slipped to the pocket of his jeans, fingering the slim and smooth surface of his wand. He swallowed hard, his voice easily slipping into the cold bite he was used to using when speaking to one Harry Potter.

"What do you want?"

The Englishman in front of him shrugged, his hands resting lazily on the cane before him. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, his stance casual and indifferent as he answered.

"I promised you a cup a' tea earlier, boy." He smirked. "I always keep to mine promises."

Draco unconsciously took a step back, a familiar scowl overtaking his features as his fingers twitched. How he itched to just pull his wand out.

"So," Mad Mod said, looking around the den as if he were a scrutinizing parent. His face was passive to the point of bored snobbery as he continued. "I see you've been doing quite well for someone who turned his back on his family and Lord."

"How do you know who I am?" Draco managed to grit out, ignoring the former comment. His hand had found its way into his pocket, pale fingers beginning to curl around his wand even though he knew it to be completely useless.

Damned if he did, and just as damned if he didn't.

"You see boy, things aren't as hush-hush as they seem. As if the papers didn't scream it enough." Mod said, rolling his eyes and shrugging as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Not to mention, old Voldy back home knows."

Draco felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head as the blood in his veins ran cold in shock.

He knows.

Was it just him, or was his heartbeat drowning out every other sound in the room? Did the red-headed man before him hear it? Draco didn't doubt it.

"Of course, he doesn't know exactly where you have holed yourself up," Mod continued, "if he did he could've found the Potter boy by now, you know. But he's getting closer, Draco. And it won't be long until they step in to punish you for your-ahem- shall we say, less than spectacular stunt at Hogwarts? Of course, you could use your role in Dumbledore's death as leverage, yes? If you're lucky, he might just make your death painless."

A throaty chuckle.

The young man's mind was running a mile a minute with this information, his breathing getting erratic as his knees buckled and he fell to the floor, his wide, steely blue eyes falling on Mad Mod's platform shoes. He began breaking out in a cold sweat as he trembled, his mother's death replaying itself in his mind as her screams echoed and clanged off of the plates of his skull.

He somehow felt it in the back of his mind, like a small voice from his conscious that was waiting to be acknowledged. He knew he wouldn't make it out alive. He knew that no matter where he ran, Voldemort would always be there, waiting for him. Maybe not physically, but he would be there, clinging to the darkest corners of (not his heart) but his conscious being. There was no going back from the sins he had committed, and that was what consumed and devoured the whole of his heart. Two demons that burdened his back for the whole of the excruciating 24 hours of waking life.

"Duckie," Mod began, a laugh evident in his voice, "Time to go home, don't you agree?"

Draco lifted his gaze in alarm as a sharp breath entered his lungs.

GET UP! A voice in his mind hissed. I DON'T WANT TO EVER SEE VOLDEMORT AGAIN!

Adrenaline suddenly rushed into him as his frozen muscles unlocked for quick movements. He quickly rose, pulling his wand out and pointing it straight at Mod. Screw being found. He'd take his chances for the moment or be found murdered in the Titans' den along with the lunatic before him.

"Draco, old boy," Mad Mod began as he readjusted his rectangular spectacles calmly.

"IMMOBULUS!"

A weak spark of light shot from Draco's wand, swirling in a whistle of sound similar to a firecracker, nearing the mad Englishman almost sluggishly in the rush of adrenaline. To Draco's dismay, he realized that as weak as it was, it began to fade more rapidly than he thought it would, only to fall short of the snickering Englishman.

Mad Mod smoothly flipping the top of the cane's jewel open and pressed the red button on top as Draco watched him with fear in his eyes. "It's about time someone took you back where you belong."

Mod watched as curiosity gained the better of the Slytherin, his gaze shifting to the movement that caught his attention in the corner of his left eye.

And when Draco turned fully, he was met with a Titans' large television screen-full of black and white swirls. He felt more than saw as his muscles suddenly lapsed into uselessness, his mind shutting down completely and his steely gaze going a dull grayish blue. He didn't even feel as his head hit the ground. As a matter of fact, he probably wouldn't remember anything past his attempt at the failed spell.

Mod smirked as he observed Draco's collapsed form on the floor, anxiousness making him hasty and snappy when ordering his robot soldiers to grab the boy and leave Titans' Tower. Nonetheless, he enjoyed a private snicker at the sheer simplicity of it all. If all was going well, the lass--Jinx, was it?--would be getting her share of success at the mall with the Titans.