Pansy had made sure to get herself used to apparating. Once they stepped outside the gates she grabbed his trunk with one hand and his arm in the other and that sickly hook-in-your-belly-button feeling engulfed Draco. They landed – Draco with a lack of grace – outside a house that looked even more grim than his own.
"Are we meeting now?" He asked as he put his hands on his knees and tried not to empty his stomach all over his shoes.
She looked over derisively. "You know, we don't always have to do this stuff at night. In fact it might actually be less conspicuous to do this in the day. Not that they're looking for anything like this." She chuckled a little. "Hurry up."
They walked up towards the black doors and Draco knew that the sick feeling he had from apparating was not going away easily. He could feel the beads of sweat starting to form along his hairline.
"Draco, come on." She grabbed him by the coat sleeve and dragged him towards the door a little faster.
As they walked inside Draco noticed that it was dimly lit and it appeared as though no one had lived here in quite some time. He figured that it was part of the concealment. They walked down the hall and into the empty kitchen. There was a door to another hallway and a wall behind a blackened stove.
"We have to go though there." Pansy Pointed at the wall behind the stove and Draco looked over at her, unsure as to what she meant. She rolled her eyes. "It's concealment. You can only get through if you have a Dark Mark." She rolled up a sleeve to show him the faint trace of black ink where her mark used to be. "They got rid of most of ours but it's still there. They can't completely get rid of it." She grinned and Draco pulled up his sleeve to reveal his faded mark.
He could feel the darkness in it even more now that he was in this house. His forearm was throbbing as though it was on fire, but the fire was colder than ice.
"Are you coming?" Pansy was standing by the stove looking over expectantly.
"Yeah." He watched as she climbed up on top of the stove and jumped through the wall.
He sighed shakily before following her. He felt a sensation of ice water wash over him as his body passed through the veil of the wall. He landed a little unsteadily on his feet in a dark room barely lit with old candlesticks.
"Well, well…" Draco's skin prickled as that voice echoed against the stone walls.
He looked up slowly to see Mulciber sitting in a chair in the corner with a grin painted across his face. As Draco straightened up Mulciber stood up and walked purposefully over to stand squarely in front of him.
"If it isn't a traitorous little rat in the flesh." He was still grinning wickedly and Draco gave him a cool glare.
"Mulciber, I can't say I'm pleased to see you either." He said through gritted teeth.
He let out a snide laugh. "At least you're here to redeem yourself, unlike that father of yours." Draco bit down on his tongue, he wanted to spit harsh words at Mulciber but he didn't want to risk an even harsher attack from him.
"Leave the boy, his father is the traitor." Draco almost jumped at the deep Jamaican voice that came from the corner of the room.
He looked over to see a huge man with dark brown skin standing almost stooped over in the shadows.
"Give it a rest Dalton." Mulciber hissed angrily, earning a slow shake of the head from Dalton.
"When are the others getting here?" Pansy asked, pacing back and forth.
"Patience my dear. They'll be here in no time." Mulciber purred as he walked over to Pansy and stroked her cheek.
She gave him a derisive look but said nothing. It was things like this that made Draco wonder whether she had lived a life akin to his, but he didn't ponder on that thought for long.
This was going to be a long night he feared.
Draco's head was spinning. A few more ex-death eaters showed up after he and Pansy did. He knew most of them. It was only Dalton and one other that he had never met. The anger that had been present in that cramped little room was more than evident. It was clear that Mulciber fancied himself as a leader for the revolution, not that any of the others took him seriously. They were all hoping that Yaxley would break out of Azkaban.
Azkaban was guarded by more than just dementors now, after they sided with the Dark Lord the new Ministry agreed that extra precautions would be taken though they were very secretive as to what exactly was guarding the prison.
Mulciber wanted to get things done fast, he wanted to act straight away. The others all seemed content to wait for things to fit. Draco wasn't too sure why someone didn't put Mulciber in his place but he had a feeling that it was because the man had a wicked temper and they couldn't afford to lose any more of their own. Numbers are dwindling as it is.
They had started to make plans about how to get into Hogwarts first. Draco thought through their reasons for wanting to target the school and the only logical reason he could come up with was revenge for taking away the Dark Lord.
"Why are you so quiet boy?" Half way through the meeting one of the men, Donahue, grunted over at Draco who had been sitting contemplatively at the side of the room. "You're starting to seem like the weak link." He grinned with blackened teeth and Draco turned up his nose.
"I've got something here to liven you up." A woman with hair blonder than his grinned and leapt through the wall quite elegantly.
She was back in a minute with a steaming cup.
"Here." She said seductively as she held it out to him.
"You think I'm just going to take that and drink it? I know you think I'm a coward but I hope you don't think I'm stupid." He said with a dark glare at the woman he only knew as Kresta.
She let out a cackling laugh and pouted out her bottom lip. "So untrusting."
She lifted the cup to her lips slowly, her eyes never leaving Draco's. Pansy was glaring over at her, clearly not happy but she wouldn't dare speak up. Kresta took a sip of the liquid and leant in close to press her damp lips against Draco who didn't move a muscle. When she removed her lips she gave him another grin and he looked up at her with a repulsed look on his face.
"You see, perfectly fine." She drawled.
"Kresta, do you have to do that?" Dalton said.
"No one said that I couldn't have a little fun," she took Draco's hand and put it onto the cup, "Drink it." She said as she raised her eyebrows a little.
Once he smelt the fruity liquid he realised that he was actually very hungry. She was willing to drink it and she seemed to be pretty fond of him so he took a small sip. It had a strange taste but it wasn't unpleasant.
The rest of the day felt long and arduous, really, Draco couldn't see a reason for trying to create a revolution but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. He was here now, he was involved. When they could finally escape they walked until they couldn't see the run down old house until Pansy grabbed him and they apparated away.
When they landed in another bland street Draco lost his balance this time and toppled over and onto his knees. "I wish you would warn me when you do that!" He yelled. "I didn't even grab my trunk!"
She rolled her eyes. "No, but I did. Come on." She started dragging his trunk up to a moderately sized house and he gathered himself to follow her.
"I take it this is where we're staying then." He said.
"Unless you would rather apparate home." She turned and looked at him from under her eyelashes with a pout on her lips.
Draco didn't like it but he followed her up the path and into the house. It was well decorated and it looked as though no one actually lived here.
Pansy gave her wand a swish and the trunk made its own way down the hallway and out of sight.
"Where is that going?" Draco said impatiently.
"To my room." She said as she pulled off the black gloves that she had been wearing.
"You just assume that's where I want to be?" Draco said with a scoff to follow.
Pansy turned and smiled sweetly. "You can sleep in there with me or you can sleep outside in nothing but your socks." She smiled smugly and Draco shook his head.
"And how long do I have to think about it?" Pansy's smile disappeared and she looked irate.
"You don't." She stalked away and Draco stood in the living room having absolutely no idea what to do in this foreign house.
He took a seat on one of the sofas and just sat there thinking.
He must have nodded off at some point because it was three hours later when Pansy was shaking him awake. "Get up Draco!"
He looked up drowsily at her glowering face. "What?"
"Come and get something to eat." She shoved him a little bit and walked to the table where she had two plates of food for them.
He got up slowly and straightened out his clothes before he walked over to the table to join her. It was no special meal but at least she had gone to the effort of feeding him. They ate in silence; Pansy spent most of her time looking down into her bowl or making a conscious effort to look anywhere but at Draco. At that point he really didn't care. He ate his food and when he was done he pushed aside his plate.
"I'm going to shower. Can I get some directions?" He said curtly.
"Down the hall. You can find a towel in the cupboard by the bathroom." She grabbed his plate and walked away stormily.
He walked in the direction he had seen his trunk go earlier and saw the open bathroom door. He grabbed a towel and headed straight in for a long hot shower.
Too bad Pansy didn't have continuous hot water. He stayed in the shower until the water ran cold. For some reason he could feel his blood boiling. Everything he felt was twice as pronounced as it had been earlier. He could feel his anger at being stuck here bubbling just under the surface and the churning ache in the pit of his stomach held his yearning to be back with Hermione. He could feel more anger at the fact that she was one of them, that she would never really understand him no matter how much she tried.
He flexed his fingers out and balled them up into fists. He stretched his neck to the side and let the water run over his body. It dripped from his hair down over his shoulders and spread out as it ran along his chest. He tilted his head back and put his hands in his hair. He could hear his heart pounding as he tried to control his emotions but it wouldn't stop pounding like a bass drum.
Every inch of him was tingling with the things he felt. Not all of them were bad. He breathed a little faster as it all completely engulfed him.
The water ran cold and he turned off the taps. He stepped out into the steamy bathroom and dried his hair a little with the towel before wrapping it around his waist and opening the door to find his trunk. He saw the room to the left of the bathroom open and looked around the corner to see Pansy sitting on her bed.
Draco walked in and put his hands on his hips. "Where is my trunk?" He said, small droplets of water sliding down onto the wooden floor beneath his bare feet.
"It's safely away." She pushed out her chest a little and gave him a little smirk.
"I don't want to play your games." He said throatily.
"Well I think you don't need it." Her eyes raked over his towel clad body, biting her lip as they grazed his bare torso.
He smirked and scoffed as he looked away, his heart still pounding in his chest.
Pansy stood up and walked towards him. "I think you look much better just like this." She put the tips of her fingers on his chest and ran them slowly down over his toned stomach until they reached the towel sitting nicely on his hips. She tucked one just under it and pulled him in closer, leaning up with seductive eyes.
His heart thumped harder and he could feel it in every inch of his body, his brain seemed somehow disconnected and all he was experiencing was the dominant feeling in that moment.
With one finger pulling him into her and another hand snaking its way around his neck she reached up and kissed him. The feeling was familiar, and in his state he let her kiss him, and he kissed her back.
He grabbed her and kissed her hard, throwing the both of them against a wall. He opened his mouth and let their tongues collide in a wet twisting motion, he pulled down on her shirt and she tried to remove his towel with snatching hands that had no regard for anything but what they were doing.
And in one moment he shoved her hard back against the wall and drew back, holding his towel tight and breathing fast.
When he thought about what was about to happen he automatically thought of her, and that if he went through with it he would lose her forever. That was already a big enough risk, he didn't want to make that risk higher.
The guilt started to engulf him over all his other emotions and he became enraged at himself.
"Where is my trunk Pansy?" He spat.
She stood panting and looking more confused than ever. "What? Why did you stop?" She demanded.
"Because I don't want this and I don't want you so tell me where my trunk is so I can put some damn clothes on!" He yelled.
She screwed up her face and stormed out of the room only to come back dragging his trunk, leaving it just outside the door. "There, go and do whatever the hell you want Draco!"
He pushed past her and she slammed the door on him.
He was so angry with himself. He was angry with Pansy, he was angry with everything. He blamed himself mainly for letting her get to him when it had barely been a day since he had been in Hermione's arms. He dragged his trunk to the bathroom and dropped it roughly on the ground before he kicked the door shut.
He leant over the sink, gripping the sides tightly with shaking hands. He kept his head down while he tried to control himself, his entire body shook with his rage. He looked up at himself and glared at the man he saw in the mirror.
"You're pathetic." He spat through gritted teeth.
The more he looked at himself the more he hated it. It didn't take long for him to snap.
"You're pathetic!" He yelled and slammed his fist into the mirror, shattering it to pieces.
He ran a hand though his hair and tried to breathe in deeply to get rid of his anger; slowly he began to cool down. He sat on his trunk and looked at the room, covered in glass shards. He sighed and stood up to get some clothes out of his trunk.
Once he was fully dressed he picked up his wand and fixed up the mirror, it wasn't his after all. He sat in the bathroom for a while, his hand throbbing and bleeding a little but physical pain was nothing compared to his heightened emotions.
After what seemed like a very long time he picked up his trunk and dragged it back to Pansy's room. He opened the door slowly and walked in, she was lying in bed facing the wall.
When she heard him come in she turned to look at him. "Are you getting in or what?" She said coolly.
He looked at her double bed and sighed. She watched him closely as he approached and groaned when he grabbed a pillow and pulled back the covers at the opposite end of the bed.
"Really? You're sleeping up that end?"
"I don't want to sleep outside in my socks and I don't want you pouncing on me again so I'm sleeping down here." He said flatly as he climbed in beside her.
She grunted and rolled back over without another word.
He already knew that he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight.
They were meeting with the 'Revolutionaries' for the next few days. Draco couldn't believe that he was actually wishing for school to return. It was only three days until the train left for Hogwarts but it felt like he would have to wait an eternity.
Kresta wouldn't leave him alone whenever she got the chance. She would drape herself over him and touch his face and hair, Pansy hated it. It was clear from the look on her face.
Mulciber wanted to hit Hogwarts as soon as possible while the others wanted to bide their time and come up with better plans.
"Can't we just apparate in?" Mulciber said ignorantly.
"You can't apparate into Hogwarts; they have some kind of enchantment preventing it. Though, since the war you have been able to apparate inside Hogwarts, but not from the outside in or the inside out. It's something to do with the spell they used. We figured that out in the first few weeks." Pansy said.
"What a clever thing you are." Mulciber snickered, causing Pansy to flare her nostrils.
"We already have a polyjuice going, why can't we just stick with that?" Kresta said in a childlike voice with a big pout on her mouth.
"We need someone to turn into for that to work." Mulciber said.
"Do you think I'm some kind of fool?"
"Well yes, now that you mention it." He growled.
Kresta hissed and Dalton piped up. "Why don't you get these two to send it by owl? I'm sure you can snatch a few hairs and put them in the post." He motioned to Draco and Pansy.
"Just so long as I get yours." Kresta ran her finger up and under Draco's chin and he pulled his face away. Kresta laughed wickedly.
"We'll be able to get it for you. Just make sure we stay in the loop." Pansy said.
"Oh believe me dear, we're going to need the two of you on the inside." Mulciber grinned.
"There are more of us, I'll get the ball rolling." Pansy said.
"That's a good girl." Kresta smiled over at Pansy who returned a nasty scowl.
Draco thought that Kresta seemed to be trying to fill the shoes of his lovely aunt Bella. For some reason she must have idolised her and now that she's gone she thinks she can make a move on her quirks. Just like Mulciber trying to take the lead.
"We have many more things to work out before it is time for Hogwarts. I'm sure you'll know when we have started." Dalton smirked and the others laughed.
Draco just couldn't wait to get home; the closest thing to a real home that he had.
He wanted to get back to Hogwarts and see the one person that he was truly missing.
A pang of guilt hit him like a tonne of bricks. Why did he let Pansy seduce him, if only for a moment, and what would he do when he got back to Hermione? What would he say?