[A/N: Here you go! I'm sick, and a bit out of it, but yet I still updated! Feel special, do you? You better. ::teehee:: I hope you like this. It was a bit of a fun one to write. The next one will probably be interesting…I've got some things up my sleeve. Oh, and just a show of hands: Who here is a fan of My Chemical Romance? I'm thinking of starting a series of one shots based on each songs from the Revenge album…I haven't decided. MY main priority is this story, though…because, basically, this is my life.

Chapter 7.

Darkness.

Draco's mind flooded with memories and flashbacks like a broken slideshow. Over and over, his recollections blazed before his conscience.

"Draco Lucious Malfoy, do you accept the agreement that you are to fulfill the Dark Lord's wish and become one of his own?" A deep, dark voice echoed through an iron mask.

"Yes. I accept." Draco said, no choice other than to.

"And do you, Draco Lucious Malfoy, accept the honor of the Dark Mark?"

"Yes, I accept."
"Do you understand that once your agreement has reached the Dark Lord, that if you wish to withdrawal on your part, death will be enforced upon you and your family?"

"Y-yes…I a-accept."

Darkness rose from Draco's mind as he gasped in pain, a sudden lunge hitting his side. His eyes shot open, wet from crying, and was staring up at the figure in front of him.

A young girl with curly brown hair stood above him, pulling back her foot in which she had kicked him.

"What are you doing here, mudblood?" Draco hissed, trying to lift himself up with his weak arms.

"Actually, I believe the question is, why are you here, ferret?" Hermione Granger's voice was acidic.

Draco looked around at his surroundings. "Where the bloody hell is this?"

"In front of the Fat Lady portrait. Not nearly anywhere close to where you're supposed to be."

Lifting himself off of the ground, he realized that he must've fainted while running his way back to the common room.

With a sneer, he walked off, towards his original destination.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hermione stood in front of the Common Room, puzzled. Why had Draco Malfoy been passed out in front of the portrait? And had he been…crying?

"Hermione? Hello, anyone in there? Hermione? Her-Mi-On-EE?"

Hermione snapped back into reality and looked at Ron.

"Oh. Hi." She said weakly.

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing really. Except that Malfoy was passed out in front of our portrait and looked like he had just undergone a few emotional breakdowns." She said quickly.

Ron roared with laughter. "Malfoy? Passed out? Emot-" more laughter came from him, and Hermione let out a fake giggle, to go along.

"What's so funny?" Harry walked beside Ron, carrying nearly all of his books.

"Hermione just- she- AHAHA- Malfoy was passed out and 'e l-looked 'ike he was- HA- cryin'"

Harry smiled and laughed too, but Hermione still didn't see what was so funny.

She loathed Malfoy, she would kill him if she didn't think it was wrong, but yet she couldn't bring herself to laugh over it. The look on Malfoy's face before she kicked him was disturbing, like he was having a painful dream. His eyes were red and puffy, from crying and she knew it. It was not a good look for him, and she had to admit that not too many looks were bad for him, either.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Draco immediately found the Slytherin Common Room, pulling himself together as he went. He friends spotted them and came like bees attracted to honey, sticking to his side as soon as they could.

"Draco, where have you been?" Pansy wrapped her arms around his front and kissed him.

The feeling was gone, and Draco wasn't in the mood to deal with her asking questions about why he never kissed her back anymore.

"Pansy, not right now. I just want to get to bed."

"But, but I thought we could, you know, sneak down to the Prefects bathroom for a bath." She ran her hands down his back and brought them back to his muscular stomach, smiling like a whore desperate for money.

"Not tonight, Pans." Draco tried to wiggle out of her grip, but was careful not to upset her.

"Fine." She said after a long time, letting go of him. "Good night."

She turned and left so quick that Draco was trying to decide whether he was amazed or relieved.

He walked up to the dormitory and walked over to his bed, but not to go to sleep. Looking around, just incase someone was watching, Draco rummaged through his bedsheets to find what he was looking for: A way to escape and be himself, his Diary.

It's so stupid. It's not fair. It's not even sensible. Why the bloody hell do I have to do this? It's not that I'm scared- I'm damned terrified. Sometimes I wonder why I keep living in the first place. I hate it- I want to be myself. I want to start over. I don't want to go through this! I want to live, I want to live free. If I'm not free, honestly, I don't see the point in living at all. It doesn't make sense. I want to love, I want to have ambitions, I want to not have to worry all the time what people think of me. I can't even turn a corner without looking behind my back to see if someone's following me. It's bad enough being watched by my damned godfather. Nobody understands it. Nobody can possibly be in this situation. I have dreams over and over and over again about the night that I was forced to agree to this Hell. Over and over, I always scream when I wake up. I see them dead, all of my family, all the time because I didn't go through with it. My mother, she doesn't deserve to die, honestly. My father, though, I would be relieved to see him killed. I could care less about what they do to him. It's everyone's lives on my line, and I'll be forced to watch them die if I don't be a Death Eater. Why the bloody hell do I keep living, honestly? It's not worth it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hermione woke up that morning, still confused about Malfoy. She didn't know why it bothered her so much, but the fact that he was crying and passed out in the corridor made her wonder if it was serious.

Mid breakfast, she began to look over her notes again for the test she was taking in an hour. Putting her Advanced Potion Making book back into her bag, she noticed the Diary inside.

She reached down and got it, hoping nobody would notice her, seeing as how Ron was too busy sleeping with his head on his oatmeal and Harry was trying to squeeze in as much answers off of her paper onto his as possible.

Hermione opened it up, and strangly enough, she was excited to see another entry.

After reading it through, her mood seemed as changed as ever. It made her feel sorry, emotionless, and amazed to see that anyone would ever have to go through as much as he's going through. She looked around the Great Hall, desperate for any signs of anyone who would be feeling this way.

Determined to state her opinion, she took out her quill and wrote a response. She couldn't let anyone keep thinking these things, even if they were going through something this horrible.

Life isn't about why you're living the way you are: it's about doing what you have to do to keep what you are living for alive.

My grandfather said that to me, when I was going through my problems. He said that I need to keep on living, because even if life is feeling like Hell, there will always be a reason why I'm still breathing, and that reason is usually found inside your heart.

It sounds like you need a reason to live. It looks like you're feeling like there's no way out, and you're trapped inside someone that you don't want to be, but you need to be there to keep yourself and everyone around you alive. I can see why you're scared. Believe me, I would be too. People around you, (Death Eaters) are probably telling you that it's normal, right? And you know that they're wrong, because it's not normal, right? Well, stick to what you know- keeping everyone alive on your hands is not a glass of pumpkin juice, and it takes strength to admit that you need to keep going.

Don't feel negative for yourself- keep thinking that you're doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Try finding something worth living for. Then life will have a whole knew meaning.