A/N: Hello Everyone. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. It is nice to hear compliments after being away for so long. I also wish to thank you very much for the publishing tips.

I can't begin to express how excited I am to have my account back up and running. I looked forward to posting my new chapter all day, and I hope that you enjoy it. I also greatly apologize for the short chapters. I am just starting to get back into the swing of things, and until then, I don't want to overdo it. I would rather post shorter... more detailed and perfected chapters to start out.

If there is any way I can improve this story, for you the readers to enjoy it more, please do not hesitate to make suggestions. Like I said before... you can't have a truly believable and touching love story... without some loss and suffering.

Again, thank you for reading.

Chapter Thirteen

The Walker

A shroud of sorrow pummels against my chest
A towering darkness I can't forget
A Whirlwind of broken dreams
A light in the distance I just can't reach.

A piercing cry and a winded scream
An empty heart with a secluded dream
A venomous mass seeping through my walls
Losing my mind and feeling myself fall.

"Oh, and Draco," Draco pulled his face up, just enough to look into Voldemort's dark eyes. "If they continue to resist being captured, kill them. All of them."

The chalky and shadowed face remained bowed towards the floor, the silver eyes like pools of endless molten. If any one person had their full and undivided attention directed towards Draco Malfoy that night, they may have caught a glimpse of the faintest shudder, the smallest of winces. Although, years and years of living in the shadows, cast down upon by all those who were meant to be his idols, a slight shiver was something out of the ordinary.

Come on Draco. Pull yourself together. You are losing it, just like your crazed Aunt Bellatrix.

Something in the death of Narcissa Malfoy had broken his trans. He no longer feared the outcomes the way he once had, and he no longer feared death.

For, through the years of serving under the devils wing, Draco had learned to forget pain. He had learned to kill, and to push all emotions and feelings deep within a vault in the back corner of his empty soul. Then, Granger had come into his life. Somehow, after all the years of endless torture, she found herself seeing that small and dim light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel that seemed to stretch on for eons.

Just one more Draco. Just one more bidding. Granger is bound to figure out the potion soon. Hell, who am I kidding? Merlin only knows! Out, shut it you stupid git! Arguing with yourself like a deranged black wizard. You really have lost your mind. The darkness is finally swallowing you whole. Draco! Pay attention!

"Draco!"

The voice of his master was enough to wake him from his thoughts. His head lifted just enough for Voldemort to sense his awareness, though shadows still sheltered his pale complexion. Bellatrix was pacing backwards and forwards, her willow-bark wand twisting in her grasp. Her elongated, boney hands lifted as she pointed a single finger towards her nephew. She let out one menacing and bone-chilling cackle and shrilled:

"Come along Drakie, we haven't got all day."

Draco lifted himself from the floor, beginning to make his way over to where she was standing. His cloak trailed behind him in a black sea, his leather gloves wringing tightly together with clutched and angry fists. He stopped just beside his aunt, as she tip toed lightly around his leather-bound boots, as if mocking him. His head remained bowed, and he continued his stare towards the wall.

"This will be a lovely bonding experience for us, wouldn't you say... nephew?"

Draco felt his blood beginning to boil beneath his skin, as he finally lifted his head just high enough. High enough for the orange firelight to shine upon his white face. He stared at his aunt for what felt like an eternity, his face curling into an angry glimpse of his demons. It was the first time in a very long time, that he had seen his aunt double-take. Her smile faded and her eyes went cold.

"In my opinion, Bellatrix." He was sure to spit an extra amount of venom when he spoke her name. "You died and were buried before I was even born."

Without another word, he lowered his head once more, and vanished in a cloud of smoke, his flustered aunt following close behind.

Hermione found herself frozen and awe-struck, staring at the book in her shaky fingers. She had almost forgotten, what it felt like... to feel a spark of curiosity for something new... something worth learning. There were so many things that she had nearly forgotten. She made her way over to a dusty sofa nearby. Beside it sat a very large, Merlin, she had forgotten what it was called. She remembered Harry mentioning to her once, that Dumbledore had possessed one. An outlet, to store your memories.

Then she heard it.

A faint and muffled sound. The smallest of vibrations traveling up and through her bare toes. Malfoy had not thought to offer her footwear. Why would he? He only had her here out of his own selfish reasons.

It was while she was arguing with her own thoughts, that the sound began all over again. This time in multiples, and they were getting louder. Hermione found herself holding her breath out of forced habit, something she had learned while in prison. It calmed her nerves and helped her listen. Her instincts had now taken over.

Yes. The noise was definitely footsteps. Footsteps inflicted by very heavy feet.

Thump. Thump.

They were beginning to slow down now, but Hermione could sense that they were getting nearer and nearer. It was as if whomever or whatever was walking in her direction, they sensed her presence. That couldn't be possible, she had been so quiet.

Then she heard it. That sound.

That one distinct sound. Instantly Hermione found her mind dragging back to that god-awful cell... into the darkness.

The clip, clip, clipping of a single retractable claw. Her heart immediately stopped beating. She knew what that sound meant. They were coming for her, the creatures from the prison. They had come to take her back to her hell. To the never-ending black. Without her wand she was helpless, she could not defend herself.

Malfoy was gone. He was nowhere in sight. No Avada Kadavera spell to save her now.

The door of the library creaked ever so slightly, Hermione still remaining perplexed and utterly frozen, her eyes locked on that door with full attention. Slowly she glanced around the room, for any way of escaping. Nothing. No windows. No second doors. She had walked herself right into another darkened cell. If only she had her wand.

There was another creak of the door, and it swung open ferociously. The screams of Hermione Granger echoed through the Malfoy Manor.

The dark forest remained just as dark, if not more dark then it had all those years before. Those years when Hogwarts was still a school, and its inhabitants battled for survival. Everything sat still, so still Draco could hear his own heart beating. His breath blew from his pale lips in thick and moist clouds.

He reached into his robes and removed his wand, beginning forwards, and deeper into the forest.

No centaurs. No spiders. Nothing. Not a single glimpse of life in the god-forsaken place. The Dark Lord had reached out with a black hand and cast all the world in shadow. What good was left in the world had gone from this place long... long ago.

Bellatrix hummed joyfully to herself, skipping and tossing the dried forest leaves about with her feet. She was stopped instantly by Draco's arm, slung out across her chest. Letting out a gasp of air, his aunt stared at him with a look of malicious loathing, just before she saw just what Draco had halted her for. Her look of loathing was immediately replaced with a devouring grin.

Just up the hill, no more then twenty paces away, stood two shadowy figures. Draco's eyes had grown accustomed to darkness, and were adjusting quickly. Still, however, he could not make out their faces. They were still as stones, the chilly breeze blowing their hair about just enough for Draco to catch. He stood stark still, wand at his side, reading to raise it to eye-level if need be. The time in which the four figures stood there seemed endless.

Rebels. It has to be rebels. Run... just run away. Don't give me an excuse to kill you. Because if we battle, I will come out the winner.

Draco's grip tightened around his wand, and he inhaled deeply. He was just about to utter an incantation, when the talon-like fingers of Bellatrix grasped at his shoulder. She yanked him towards her lips, whispering coldly into his ear. He felt instant chills. Then the words escaped her lips, making their way into his ear, and deep within the very pit of his soul. She said:

"Before you go running off to do his bidding, the Dark Lord wishes for me to give you something. Cho Chang was your test, and you passed."

Draco did not move an inch. It was as if she had petrified him where he stood. Perhaps she had, Voldemort was rewarding his most trusted subjects with new abilities. Abilities he had dug from the deepest of forbidden magic. Then his aunts whispers continued:

"From the blood he shall be born,

The Walker.

Sworn to do his masters bidding,

He and death shall become one."

Then came the pain. It was hot and heavy, shooting through him like a thousand needles, all fighting to escape his skin. His eyes rolled back into his head, and his hood slipped down his back. The next moment, Draco Malfoy found himself brought to his knees, hands shaking uncontrollably. Then, there was screaming. It wasn't until he finally realized it was his own agonizing screams that she finished her incantation:

"Demons shall tremble at his feet,

And shadows will part in his wake,

The world will fear the very utter of his name,

And he shall be known as,

The Walker."

The pain, which had so endlessly shot through his body, stopped instantly with the last murmur of the final verse, and Draco collapsed. His body convulsed and shook in frantic spasms, the smell of damp soil wafting into his nostrils. His eyes opened to reveal the earth parallel to his white face, and he saw the hundreds of insects beginning to surface, wriggling and scratching. Their mandibles and bodies were illuminated by a faint green light, a light he could not comprehend.

Giving out one final spasm, he lunged to his feet faster then most could follow with their eyes, wand once more raised at the ready. The green glow seemed to follow him, moving to wherever his eyes were focused. He glanced up towards the hill, the figures were gone. Bellatrix was cackling like a rabid dog, dancing about once again and chanting under her breath.

"Do you feel that Drakie? Do you feel the immortality flowing through your veins?"

He watched her carefully, brushing a lock of his blonde hair from his cold face. As he went to move his hand, he then realized that the glowing green light was coming directly from him. It was coming from his eyes. He took a horrified step backwards, his face curling as he shot daggers at Bellatrix.

"What have you done to me, you rotten old hag!" He spat, reaching upwards and touching his eyelids as he spoke. The sound of thousands of insects crawling above the forest floor was tickling at his eardrums. Something was different. His hearing. His hearing had definitely improved. It was as though he could hear the very cold itself, whispering his name. The rushing of the breeze in the branches. The cackling of a brook which he could not have heard with the most strained of ears just minutes ago.

"Welcome, my nephew!" Bellatrix coed, her hair falling over her face. "Welcome to the world of immortality! You have officially become a death walker. The second to be granted this generous gift from the Dark Lord himself, after your father of course."

"My eyes, what's happened to them!"

"Only in the dark they glow, dear boy. Only in the dark."

"Immortal! Draco hollered, gabbing his aunt fiercely by the shoulders. She only grinned wickedly in his directly. "Why have I not heard of this before!"

"The Dark Lord wanted to make sure that you were... worthy of these abilities. The darkest magic is what powers you now. You are immortal Draco... you will never age. You will live forever while others rot and die and soil themselves. You will be the one to go down in history beside the Dark Lord himself."

"Immortal?" Draco repeated, the world suddenly hitting him.

"Don't get too excited now, nephew." Bellatrix snapped, the grin suddenly gone from her face. "Death can still be brought to you through any means in which a mortal person may die. But now, Draco, you will not age. You will have ears that can hear the faintest of sounds, and eyes that can catch even the smallest movement. You will be, His most powerful weapon-"

"STUPIFY!"

Draco heard the spell hollered just in time to grab hold of his wits. A massive wave of magic was cast upon him from the hill above. He only just raised his own wand in time, shielding himself from the blow. He felt slightly relived with the fact that he did not recognize the voice.

Bellatrix did not hesitate.

"Crucio!" She roared, a blood-curling scream echoing throughout the forest, as the man doubled over under the unforgivable curse.

Not so unforgivable these days.

Draco found himself cringing at the sounds of the mans screaming. Not physically. No, physically he showed no emotions. Mentally, that was a far different story. Then the dark sky was filled with magic, as Draco and the second figure up the hill began fighting for survival. Wave upon wave of magic was cast down the hillside in his direction, but Draco held his ground. Being at the bottom did give him a massive disadvantage.

Then there was a single second. One gap in which the wizard firing at him hesitated. That was that.

"Avada Kadavera!"

The mans body fell limp to the forest floor. The screams of the other man, however, were still loud and clear. Draco shot his aunt a nasty look, wondering how she could enjoy herself so. Then, without a word, he trudged up the hill towards the still alive man, and pointed his wand right against his forehead. No, it was no one he recognized.

He took a large gulp of saliva, his eyes glazed over, before he whispered:

"Avada Kadavera."

Bellatrix screamed in rage at his intrusion to her amusement.

Draco found himself taking a step back, his face cringing. He reached back and pulled his hood once more over his head, shadowing his face. He would not let her see his despair.

"Now, what were you saying you crazed old witch?" He hissed, slowly lifting his wand towards her face. "What weapon?"

Bellatrix took a step forwards, reaching up and under his hood and stroking his chilly skin. Once again, his insides began to boil in an endless rage.

"You, Draco Malfoy..." She said, in the faintest of whispers, "are going to kill them. Any and all that stand in the way of the Dark Lord... will die at your hands. For eternity."

Those words seemed a distant memory. Draco felt his knees grow weak. In that moment in time, there was nothing that could have wounded him more then the words he had just heard.

He thought then that there was nothing worth continuing on for anymore. Nothing that could ruin him more then he already was.

That was what he believed.

The truth was however, that if Draco Malfoy had known that at that very moment, the girl known as Hermione Granger lay bleeding to death on his Library floor, he would have realized...

… that he really did have something to live for.

A/N: Well, thank you for reading. As always, your support is noticed and appreciated. I will now take this moment to promise you that more answers will be given in the chapter to come, and maybe a taste of romantic connection, which I know many of you have been waiting for.

I also am going to start reading some of the other authors fics when I get the chance. If you think that your story might be something I could learn from or enjoy, please review and fill me in. I promise to review any and all stories I come across.

I do enjoy hearing from the people who are reading my story. So if you feel you have a compliment, or a criticism, or even just a comment... please do not hesitate.

DS