A/N: Yep, I'm a failure. Sorry guys. Here it is.

Disclaimer: It's mind boggling how you can think I own Harry Potter. I don't.

Love Doesn't Exist

Chapter Six

Not three hours had passed before Felicity was so bored she could have repeatedly hit herself on the head with a book just to provide some entertainment. She had already looked through three giant tomes of facts about Grindelwald's life and so far none had been minutely helpful. Tom had been utterly silent as well, his back turned to her while reading through the same book. Felicity found that a bit odd. One book? For three hours? Come to think of it, he hadn't turned a page in half an hour. He simply sat there, one arm propping up his head. Wait a second…

Felicity dropped the dusty book she was reading on the seat next to her as she stood. The witch walked over to her captor, quietly and slowly. She just peeked around his black hair – which, as she just noticed, had a slight curl to it – only to find his eyes closed. He was breathing peacefully but deeply. It took Felicity a moment to understand what Tom was doing exactly. Oh, for Merlin's sake, he's asleep!

A small smile threatened to reveal itself on Felicity's mouth, but she quickly shoved it down. With triumphant eyes, she just barely whispered in Tom's ear, "That's what you get for staying up all night just to beat me. Sweet dreams, you sadistic, psychopathic, murdering kidnapper!" And then Tom smirked.

"I heard that, Miss Tylers." Felicity's eyes widened a bit, while Tom's remained closed.

"I-I wanted you to hear it." Felicity stuttered, momentarily stunned.

"Did you now?" Felicity never answered. "Get back to work." Tom went back to reading, though still not turning the page.

Felicity stood there a moment with a frown on her face. "You're not my boss."

"No, I'm your kidnapper, which, as you constantly agree, is far worse." The witch crossed her arms and pursed her lips out as she looked down at the Dark Lord. She rolled her eyes.

"You know, you could just go to sleep in your own room. I'm sure it'd be more comfortable." He looked up at her with a smirk showing clearly on his face.

"Does my comfort really worry you, Felicity?" He stood from his chair, while Felicity raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't sleeping. I was reading."

"Yeah, that looked like reading." They glared at each other, with Tom's characteristic smirk still plastered on his smug face.

"I don't need my eyes to read. I'm a wizard, Felicity. What don't you understand about that? I used a charm that allows me to sift through all the information in the book to find what I'm looking for. It is a bit time consuming, but worth it in the end." Felicity sighed. He was so exhausting.

"Forgive me, Tom," she spoke sarcastically, her voice dripping with venom. "I suppose Hogwarts doesn't teach you how to cheat these days."

"It's not cheating; it's using the abilities fate has handed you." He looked to Felicity's left for a moment, as if scanning some far-off place. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a guest to attend to." With that, Tom apparated, leaving a very confused Felicity alone in the library.

"Guest?" She questioned to no one, settling back down on the couch with the book she had been reading before.

He was being summoned.

No, this is impossible. Impossible! He's dead. He's been dead for nineteen years. And yet, the Dark Mark has returned, along with an unquenchable pain.

Draco Malfoy imagined Lord Voldemort pressing one long white wand into his own Dark Mark, which, as all Death Eaters were well aware, meant he was summoning his servants. And they could not ignore this call. Therefore, Draco was simply powerless when he felt the pull. Good thing he had sent the Fawcett kid to speak to Mr. Tylers. It would give him time to figure out what – or who – was causing the Dark Mark's return.

Quickly ducking his head out of his office, Malfoy checked for any other Ministry employees nearby. Seeing none, he retreated to his office, leaving a note on his door saying he had left early. Fawcett would be mad when he returned, but as he said before: "there are more impending disasters with the rest of the world." And the Dark Mark just so happened to be 'Number One.'

He'd find the Felicity girl later. After hearing about her brother, Draco doubted if she was even alive. Or maybe the whole situation had been thrown out of proportions. Perhaps she had just run away. Perhaps she had just found her life too unbearable and left. Perhaps she simply didn't tell anyone where she was going.

The pain was getting worse. Draco clenched his teeth together as he pressed his wand to his Dark Mark. And then, just like that, he was gone.

He'd never seen the manor before. To be honest, he didn't even know if he was in England anymore. The house was old and of a Victorian style. Ivy grew up the sides as water marks stained the front. An iron fence enclosed the home, obviously letting visitors know they weren't welcome.

Draco felt the heaviness of the air as the wind picked up, his platinum blonde hair ruffled and tousled in the breeze. He stood on the outside of the fence, a giant gate looming above him. The Dark Mark still hurting, Malfoy pushed open the gate and walked through.

The place was silent. Only the wind picking up the deadened leaves could be heard, even if it was mid-Summer. Draco also noticed all the trees were bear, not a leaf on them. Clearly, whoever lived here didn't like 'life' very much. The thought only frightened him further. Lord Voldemort would live in a place like this: no life, no people, no happiness. He had to find out what was going on. The whole Wizarding World could be in danger if he didn't find out, not that he even had much of a choice. The pull was getting stronger.

Draco walked right up to the large mahogany doors, raising a hand in preparation to knock.

But as he was about to touch the door, it drew away from him, revealing a man in its place. Draco stared right into his eyes. This man was not the Voldemort he knew. He was young and handsome and human. The unidentified man spoke, breaking Draco's train of thought. "Ahh, Draco Malfoy. You've certainly grown. I've been expecting you." The man swung the door open even farther, motioning that Malfoy should enter. He did as he was told, if only because he was curious who this was.

The blonde wizard began to imagine the craziest explanations for what he was seeing, and feeling (as the case was for his Dark Mark). Was he the Dark Lord's son? But he didn't have any children. He'd never allow them to live. Was he the Dark Lord's servant? Someone striving to take over the Wizarding World just like Voldemort himself? Or maybe, just maybe… Could this be Voldemort himself? As Draco looked into the green depths of his irises, there was something he recognized. A sort of desire, ambition, hatred, and there, at the darkest pit was an emotion Malfoy didn't believe Voldemort could ever feel… loneliness.

"Who are you? And why did you summon me here using Lord Voldemort's Dark Mark?"

"I'm a bit upset, Draco. You didn't immediately recognize me. More than that, I'm far more upset at what you've become." Recognize him? How? They'd never met. What was this arrogant prat talking about?

"What do you mean? Who are you?" He repeated.

"Why, Malfoy. I'm your master. Lord Voldemort." No response. Draco went numb. No recognition of what the man – claiming to be Lord Voldemort! – had said. Of course, inwardly Draco was already planning, calculating, but his 'master' could hardly think that. He would still believe him to be the seventeen-year-old scared-out-of-his-wits boy he once was. But that was hardly still the case. "Surprised? You shouldn't be. If you had been any kind of follower you'd have believed I was still alive. You'd have come looking for me. You'd have never stopped carrying out my plans. But no. Instead, you gave up all I had done for you. Threw everything away as if it were some momentary gain and not an everlasting reality. You even work under Harry Potter. I'm so disappointed, Draco. But I suppose I will use your good relationship with the Potter boy to my own advantage… How is your father, Draco?"

"Dead," he replied, matter-of-factly.

"Pity. He could have been of some use yet." Draco raised an eyebrow. If this was Lord Voldemort, he would have known of Lucius Malfoy's death for some time now. He would have know that, only a year after Lord Voldemort's death, Lucius was so utterly destroyed from his master's will. He would have known that Draco's father had thrown himself off a cliff just to rid himself of Lord Voldemort's grasp. They all thought he had gone crazy. But maybe he wasn't, Draco realized. Maybe he was telling the truth the whole time. That Voldemort could never really die, and he was still here, watching all of us from afar. But before Draco could come to any conclusions, one thing had to be proven.

"How do I know you're really the Dark Lord?" The man in front of him smirked, an evil glint in his eye.

"Do I really have to show you, Malfoy? I think, for your family's sake, you'll trust I am the same Voldemort who tasked you with killing the fool Dumbledore, only appearing younger and more human." The man then proceeded to recount his success with the Time Turner potion with an air of triumph and arrogance written all over his face. Still a little wary, Draco did not press the situation any further. Even if this wasn't Lord Voldemort, he would still murder Draco's family. The best plan was to simply go along with this 'Lord Voldemort' until he either knew he was truly who he said he was, or had evidence to the contrary.

"Why did you call me here, My Lord?" He humbly questioned.

"There is someone I want you to meet, dear Draco. Someone that will become your topmost priority for the rest of your miserable life."

The book having sufficiently been skimmed, Felicity dropped it on the seat next to her, dust swirling from its old covers as it landed. Tom hadn't been gone for very long. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes. She wondered who the 'guest' could possibly be. One of his followers? Do they even know he's still alive?

Felicity didn't have to wait long to find out though. Another five minutes had passed when the giant double doors of the Grand Library swung open, revealing Tom behind them. To his left stood a tall middle-aged man with platinum blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard.

Her eyes widened, her fists clenching together so hard that her fingernails started to dig into her skin. She knew this man. Everyone in the Auror Department did. Harry Potter's employee. Harry Potter's advisor. Harry Potter's friend. "Mr. Malfoy?" Felicity managed to choke out, even through all the anger bubbling within her. Tom smiled devilishly, knowing he had gotten to her, knowing that her Hufflepuff family blood coursed throughout her veins, knowing that loyalty was a prize she valued almost as dearly as her life.

And then, with Tom's conquering smile, Felicity burst. "How dare you! How dare you! Harry Potter is your friend! He trusts you with his life! And all this time, all this goddamn time, you've been helping Lord Voldemort?" She screamed at the top of her lungs, not caring if the pair hadn't said one word to her since they had arrived. He was a traitor! A brainless fool that had been sucked into Tom's vortex of power and fear. If she had a wand, he'd have been seriously injured by now.

"Ahh, Felicity, I believe you are already acquainted with Mr. Malfoy?" Her only reply was clenched teeth and a hardened expression. "Wonderful. Mr. Malfoy will be your personal bodyguard when I'm not around, Miss Tylers. We have to keep you safe… to keep me safe. I have little doubt Draco is right for the job… a job which happens to start now. Good day, you two." Felicity rolled her eyes at Tom's strange behavior. He was being mildly polite, obviously meaning he wanted something. Tom merely turned around and headed back out the door, leaving Felicity alone with the traitor.

The doors shut behind Tom, a loud thud issuing from the action. Draco and Felicity stared at each other, neither one moving or daring to shift their eyes. "Calm down, Felicity." Draco ordered. He was quite surprised to see her alive and well (if 'well' meant horribly emaciated and depressingly gloomy). Of course, Lord Voldemort had already explained the situation to him on their walk to the Grand Library. She was a Horcrux, and her brother's death was a 'misfortunate' accident. She was an object to be protected, and Draco was the protector. Why he trusted Draco…well, that was another matter entirely.

"Why should I calm down?"

"Because I haven't been helping Lord Voldemort since we all thought he was gone for good. Because I don't want to hurt you, Felicity, anymore than you want to be here. Because I'm on your side." Draco's words did seem to calm her down a bit, though she was still as stiff as before. He moved closer, stopping just meters before the younger witch. "Felicity Tylers, you've caused quite a bit of trouble in the Auror Department these past few weeks."

"Have I?" She shook her head, disbelieving. "It doesn't really feel like it. I seriously doubted anyone was even looking for me." She snipped at him.

"Well, Harry Potter's gone a little mad searching for you. And don't even get me started on Scott Fawcett. The boy has gone insane trying to organize a search party for you. And wouldn't you believe who the head of the search party is?"

"You?"

"Of course. Who else?" Draco stuffed his hands in his pockets in a disinterested way. Felicity shook her head, registering Draco's previous comment.

"Wait…" Her voice lowered. "Scott's looking for me?" Her eyes softened as she frowned.

"Yes." Draco interjected. "The boy is quite determined to find you." She imagined his face, frantically trying to find her, going crazy over trying to get her back. Then, knowing that she and Scott could have never really been together, she shook her head firmly. Felicity put Scott behind her a long time ago. When she returned home, she would avoid him at all costs. Speaking of which…

"Hey, wait a minute. You found me! Take me back! Get me out of here if you're really are on my side!" She didn't know why the thought hadn't occurred to her before. Shouldn't that have been her first demand? What the Merlin, Felicity…

"I don't think that would be wise." The man offered no explanation.

"What do you mean it won't be wise? Then alert Mr. Potter and let him come for me! He destroyed Voldemort once and he can do it again!"

"Apparently, that is not the case, considering Voldemort is still alive." He glanced at the panicked girl, frowning at her incompetence. Wasn't she an Auror? Didn't Potter always commend her on her level head? Doubtful… "Besides, even getting you home wouldn't change the fact that you're still a Horcrux. Before you can go home, you must weaken Tom to the point where he…"

"What, Malfoy? To the point where he what?" Her eyes searched his, pleading for an answer.

"Kills you." Silence. Grey met amber. Felicity swallowed hard. She looked to the floor. The beginnings of tears formed as she closed her eyes. She took a seat on the sofa, keeping her head down and rubbing her temples methodically. And then she sort of chuckled. A response that Draco raised an eyebrow at.

"I guess I always knew… In the back of my mind, I always knew. Harry had told me often enough how he got rid of Voldemort's soul." Draco sighed, sitting next to Felicity.

"He came back though. And you might too."

"We don't know that…" There was a quiet throughout the room, as if someone had just been ordered their death sentence, which of course, was entirely the case. Felicity took a deep breath and let it out. She nodded curtly and looked up, a new sort of determination in her eyes. "Alright… How should I weaken Tom enough to kill me?"

"You're a woman…it should be easy for you." Felicity let out a small laugh. Oh Malfoy…you have no idea.

A/N: Did you enjoy? In the middle there was a serious case of writer's block... hope it still smoothed out. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.