Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Authors note: Sorry it took me so long to update this chapter but my grandmother got sickI just had to take care of her for a while. She's better now though. Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews. Kudos to all :) Now on with the story.

It was in mid August just a couple of days before the start of his fourth year as Draco Malfoy stared at the ceiling while lying in his bed thinking about the fact that his father would be taking him to the Quidditch World Cup, and hoping neither Potter nor Weasel would be there. That would just ruin his day no matter if his favorite team would win.

He was quickly thrown out of his daze when his father barged into his room, he barked at Draco, "Get dressed we have visitors, and rest assured that if you embarrass me in any way. You will never forget it." He walked out of Draco's room but returned only seconds later and spoke in the same tone as before, "Wear the satin robes." With that he strode out of the door again and announcing his exit with the slamming of Draco's bedroom door.

There was no moment of hesitation for Draco; the satin robes always meant that someone important would be arriving. Draco hoped it wasn't the Death Eaters. He jumped out of bed and quickly head towards his closet to pick out the satin robes that his father had instructed.

His room wasn't anything special to him considering he lived in a house with more rooms than anyone could count. When standing by the door through which his father made his dramatic arrival and departure Draco's king sized bed was on the right side while straight opposite that was his Slytherin styled bathroom where the towels were all green and the walls were shiny silver. Next to his magnificent bathroom was the den where the fireplace still held a small flame from the night before. Bookshelves aligned the walls and two couches sat quite comfortable in the middle. While in between the closet and living room was a mighty window that overlooked the Malfoy garden and part of the countryside, which is also Draco's favorite place to go and think. Right next to his bed was his closet where he currently was searching for his robes.

As Draco finally managed to find his robes, which weren't in his closet but tucked away in a dresser on the side of his bed, he headed downstairs immediately. When he reached the ground floor of his home, he could hear voices coming from his fathers' study, a room that he had visited many times during his childhood, mostly only when he was being punished. As he stepped inside, he didn't even bother to announce his arrival but just stood in the back watching and listening to what was happening before him. The walls were painted with a deep navy blue, in the center were many beige leather couches where the Death Eaters were currently standing around, Draco observed that no one was sitting.

A few people that Draco recognized were Nott, Avery, Pettigrew, Crabbe, and Goyle but the others all had foreign faces. One of them was speaking and Draco just caught the end of his sentence, "…plan that has been started to put into effect. I have received many notifications from a helpful source inside out circle that will help our plan come together and help in the Dark Lord's return. We know he will want retribution for what was done unto him, for this we will prepare. "

Draco heard murmurs of agreements amongst the group, but one voice seemed out of place, a small whimper. This perked his curiosity and he glanced around and found a small girl standing in the middle. She had blonde curly hair that was put up in pigtails, her face tearstained and frightened and she was hugging a brown tattered up teddy bear. Draco subconsciously took a step towards the girl and in that moment, Lucius chose to announce Draco's arrival.

Bad move.

"Oh Draco my dear boy, come, join us," Lucius said with an outstretched arm which is where Draco moved towards. Lucius placed his right hand on Draco's shoulder and squeezed when he said, "I have a present for you to prove your loyalty to the Dark Lord." His father then took his left hand, pointed to the small girl, and waited for his son to react. Draco hesitated only slightly but then immediately acted on his fathers words he took out his wand ready to perform harm unto the girl.

His confidence, however, faltered when he gazed into her eyes, sadness and fear was evident which made his heart ache. But that wasn't that made him stop short from hurting her, it was the fact that she stood there so vulnerable and frail looking at the men in front of her like a caged animal, wanting to do anything so she could escape. That was when Draco realized he couldn't do it.

She was probably four years old and the only thing she could have done wrong was steal a cookie out of the cookie jar without her parents knowing, but that isn't a good reason to kill her. He couldn't really understand why throughout most of his childhood he heard the repeating words of his father that muggles need to be destroyed. Draco slowly lowered his wand and realized that he wasn't meant for this sort of thing, he wasn't a killer.

He looked up and saw the angry eyes of his father staring back at him, and saw for the first time that Professor Snape was standing behind Lucius watching Draco with an unreadable expression. "Draco, what are you waiting for? Kill her!" Lucius barked at him.

Draco, however, didn't do as he was told. Instead, he looked at the girl again and saw that she started crying again and was hugging her teddy bear tighter than before. This isn't how it's supposed to be. It isn't right. Draco felt just as frail and caged as the little girl did, but he wanted to do anything but this. He turned back to his father still aware that all of the other Death Eaters were watching him and said, "I won't do it."

As he watched his father's reaction Draco was a little shaken up, for Lucius didn't react at first, so Draco took this chance, he grabbed the small girl and dashed upstairs to his room surely hearing his fathers voice echoing behind him. He needed to get her out of harms way. As he entered his room, he put strong wards on his door that he read in one of his fathers' books, hoping that the girl wouldn't see his wand. I hope they will last. Draco brought the little girl over to the sofa and sat her down. He stood in front of her with crossed arms and watched her. She just looked at him with confused eyes, silent tears still streaking down her face.

When a couple of minutes past Draco spoke with softness in his voice that surprised him, "I am not going to hurt you. But I do need you to tell me what happened anything that you can remember."

"I remember my mom tucking me in but then there was a bright flash of green light and then all went black. That's all…before I woke up here. Who are those men downstairs?"

Draco pondered about how he could answer her question because most likely, she was a muggle and Death Eaters and Voldemort probably weren't included in the goodnight stories her parents would tell her. "Those men are evil, they kill for fun and shouldn't be messed with."

She looked at Draco and answered the question that both knew the answer too, "You're going to be punished for rescuing me aren't you?"

"Yes". But did it bother him? He didn't even know the answer to that question or even a proper reasoning to his acts today. Draco sat down on the opposite couch and placed his head in his hands. He had no idea what he was doing. He thought that hours had passed when he felt a small hand on his right knee; he saw that it was the girl. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Draco."

"My name is Zoey, and I promise everything will be ok. I have Teddy with me." She said with a smile, that made her eyes sparkle and her face light up with joy, and was just about to hold him up for Draco to look at when his bedroom door was smashed in. He didn't need to guess twice on who had arrived. His father stormed into his room and locked eyes with his son – hate with defiance – Draco was ready.

Lucius withdrew his wand from his cane and spoke with a deadly tone, "How dare you embarrass me in front of the Dark Lord's followers and his work. How dare you! You better have a bloody damn good reason you sorry excuse of a son!"

Zoey was standing behind Draco but he never chose to acknowledge her, instead Draco answered unto Lucius. "Father, I-"

"Is that little bitch still here? What have you become Draco? All of the years that I have taught you to follow what is right and now you have disappointed and betrayed me."

"No father, you have always thought that the Dark Lord's work is the right one to follow. It was never my decision it was my obligation. But I have news for you, it ends here, because I refuse to be apart of it." Draco stood there angry and shaking not knowing where this new anger had emerged from and not realizing that Zoey had placed her hand in his own. Like a daughter to her father. Like a sister to her brother.

He turned around and looked at Zoey who had withdrawn her hand from his and was now holding Teddy. Teddy however was no longer in the shape that Draco had first seen downstairs, the stomach was ripped open and Zoey cautiously held a vial in her hand. Draco looked at her in confusion

Then he heard her voice but not her lips move. There is another for you; it will help you live your life away from fear. Find it and use it well. Hermione Granger, she will help you get there. A small grin was on her face as she lifted the vial and drank from it. Then she and Draco locked eyes with Lucius.

Time was moving slowly for Draco. He was trying to heal his bleeding wound around his right eye that his father gave him, and during the thirty seconds he needed to take to apply the 'healing salve' , his mind was continuously repeating what Zoey had told him. She was a witch she had to be, or how could she be telepathic and not be one?

There is another for you. Another what? A vial?

The thirty seconds were up, and he took another dab of the salve and applied it on his wound. Even though it held the work of muggle 'stitches' this didn't require needles, only patience and tolerance for pain. As the stinging subsided and he could feel the numbing take place, which he knew would not be there for long, he exited the bathroom and examined his quarters where he will be staying until Hogwarts resumed classes.

The room looked almost the same as his except it wasn't as large. The color of the walls held a light blue where a king sized bed was positioned on the left and the closet was in the far right corner. There wasn't a sitting area but a fireplace was next to the closet at the foot of the bed and a chair was positioned underneath a petite window seated next to the bathroom door. As much as it resembled his old room it wasn't home, but Draco had no other choice. The speech he gave his father wasn't one where you would find a loving embrace to follow afterwards.

Draco decided that he should explore his new home, after watching Zoey crumple in front of him and his father leaving him to bleed to death on his bedroom floor he decided to pack up and leave, permanently. He had already taken out the necessary amount from his account and changed the rest under his name before his father would know about it. He pocketed his wand and made sure that all of his belongings were still shrunk and in his cloak pocket before he set out on his way down the hallway.

When he walked downstairs, he turned a corner and waited for the lift to arrive. He stepped inside and looked at the gold buttons in front of him. He just randomly selected number four and waited until the lift ceased moving. He lifted his head when the doors opened and stepped into a room where mountains of books were lined against the walls. A library.

Some people were sitting on couches or outside on the balcony enjoying a cup of coffee. He was about to turn around to go to a different floor but then he heard Zoey's voice ring in his ears. Hermione Granger, she will help you get there. Granger would surely be stuck in the library, Draco searched amongst the faces but his luck wouldn't be that great and surely he didn't see her anywhere.

Now that he was in the library, he thought that he should make the best of it even if Granger wasn't here. He went outside to purchase a cup of coffee. He approached the sales person and Draco realized that it ached to talk so he kept his sentence short. "One coffee. Black. To go." the waiter didn't look up but when it was time to hand the drink to Draco, he almost tipped over his drink. It was then Draco caught his reflection in one of the signs on the wall opposite him, it was made of glass and Draco could clearly see his wound.

It was bleeding and already dripping onto his shirt, he was surprised that he didn't realize it before. "Don't worry yourself about it," Draco said placing the desired amount on the counter and grabbing his coffee cup. As he turned away from the waiter to head back inside he immediately crashed into a girl that made Draco spill his hot coffee all over the front of his shirt. Thankfully, his drink was charmed so if it ever spilled, it would turn cold immediately. This however wasn't Draco's main concern.

"Can't you watch where you're going, you little bitch." Draco said holding his empty cup and examining his ruined shirt.

"Excuse me, you shouldn't be talking. You were the one that bumped into me, Malfoy!" at this Draco looked up and saw a girl wearing a green t-shirt and white shorts standing in front of him. She had brown wavy hair that was currently secured in a messy braid. He looked at her face which took him a bit to recognize, and that is when he knew how she knew his name. It was the one and only Granger.

When Draco looked up, her expression changed to sympathy for she was clearly looking at his wound. "Malfoy, what…" but Hermione was never able to finish for Draco held her by her upper arms as he spoke in a deathly whisper, "Do not mention to anyone that I was here. Anyone. Do you understand me?"

Hermione was too surprised with everything so she just nodded and watched as he retreated back to the elevator, then a couple of seconds later he was gone and that was the last she saw of him that summer.

They were still is the same position when Draco was finished. "What happened after that? I tried to check your name but there were no records of you ever having a room." Hermione said.

"I checked out and into another hotel continuously before school resumed. I couldn't let my father find me or else I would still be bearing his mark." Draco said standing up and walking to the kitchen. He was looking through the cabinets for a glass when he heard slight movements outside.

"Someone is here. No one knows of this place muggles in particular. Get some shoes on; get ready to leave." Draco whispered to Hermione and slowly walked near the window to see who was outside.

Snape and the others had found them.

Think fast. Draco moved quickly, he turned around to Hermione who was just tying her tennis shoes when he remembered the hedge out back. He approached her and said, "We have to go. Now! Come on this way."

He got his cloak off the kitchen counter and moved as quietly as possible with Hermione in tow to the back porch. This is where he knew he would have to be quick, but Hermione stopped them to ask, "Who's out there?" Draco knew that this question would arrive but he wasn't sure on how to answer.

"It's Harry." Draco said which he hoped would be a distraction to her. He immediately knew that it was the wrong answer for her face began to light up.

"Harry! He's here, oh, this is wonderful. When he sees you, my name will be cleared and they can see that I am not crazy. And then you can tell them what happened." Hermione was not aware that her voice was elevating but Draco was and he also knew that the group was getting closer.

"Hermione you have to understand. What I told you isn't even the beginning of it all. If they see me, it's the end. Game over. We are all dead." Hermione's smile faltered when she saw the serious look on Draco's face. But it was too late for realization, for she saw Ron coming around the right side of the cabin with the others treading behind, wands aloft.

Game over.

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