"Come here, son, don't make a sound," Lucius commanded from across the darkened room. There was a murmur of agreement and approval of the ceremony that was about to begin. Quickly, the black robed wizards went silent. The only sound now was from the clicking of high-heeled boot on marble as Draco walked to the podium where his father stood.
Draco was ecstatic under his extreme solemnity. It was the moment his life had been leading up to thus far. He was finally going to do what he wanted to do since he had been able to speak. He wanted to run to the podium where his father so proudly stood. Draco wanted to stand up for what he believed in and play his part in the outcome of the world, and the war.
"Hold out your hand," the elder Malfoy ordered of the younger one.
Draco did as he was told and did so willingly. His hand shook a little from the excitement of the event. Lucius pulled back Draco's black silk sleeve. He pulled the engraved dagger out of his belt. Mr. Malfoy held his right hand under Draco's left one to support it. His left hand, the one charged with the power of the ancient instrument it now possessed, made it's first deep cut in the visible blue line just below Draco's elbow.
Lucius drew the dagger down to a few millimeters above Draco's palm. He cut the curving lines for the snake and the sharper more precise ones for the skull. The blood stained the silk and Draco was proud. He dared not flinch under Malfoy's royal grip. His arm did hurt excessively and he wished he could stop feeling the pain of each line cutting through his skin and veins. The pain ruined the moment a tad but Draco tried to not let himself think about it. This was only the begging. This was just a ceremony to make a symbol of the great glory that was to come.
Lucius took the dagger back and wiped the bloodied blade on the front of Draco's robes, as was tradition. "Dismissed. We meet when we are next called," Lucius announced to the eager contents of the room, declaring the end of the ceremony.
Malfoy sighed in relief and glanced at his wrist. The cut healed itself instantaneously upon the gathering's release. The throbbing ebbed away and now there was just a raw scab to remind Malfoy of the pain that he had endured tonight. Malfoy watched the snake writhe and give itself much more distinctive features. The skull's jaw opened and closed. It opened once more and Draco's arm flashed green for an instant. It was only a second but it meant that Malfoy was now, and would always be, a Death Eater.
Later that night Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle drank as much as they deemed possible next to the bushes on the outer wall of the mansion's west wing. Malfoy remembered looking at Crabbe regurgitating into the bushes. He remembered looking at Goyles eyes and seeing something there that he knew he would no longer be able to find I his own… –
Malfoy was looking on once again.
He saw the green marble of the ancient Slytherin Mansion.
He saw the dying around them.
He saw the screaming.
He saw the fighting.
The war was almost over. Most on both sides were collapsed on the floor, on the cursed green marble. It was Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle versus Hermione and George Weasly. Crabbe had his wand pointed at the weakening girl. His mouth was already beginning to form the words. The two words most feared by wizard kind. Draco couldn't just stand there and watch it happen. To see Crabbe become a murder and not do anything about it, Draco deemed an impossible feet. He didn't want to see Crabbe take the light out of someone's eyes. He was made for that sort of thing, not Crabbe.
"Avada –," Crabbe began.
On instinct, and without thinking for a second, Malfoy pointed Crabbe's wand away from the culprit.
"KEDAVRA!" Crabbe finished.
Before either of the boys knew what the outcome of their collective actions could possibly be, Goyle's head hit the cold green marble.
"Goyle?" Crabbe asked rather timidly bending down in order to hear his friend's response. Upon waiting and not receiving any signs, Crabbe worst nightmares were validated.
"Goyle," Crabbe said a bit more audibly.
"GOYLE!" he screamed and pounded on Goyle's chest, fists coming down in rapid succession. Crabbe stopped beating his friend and instead, pointed his wand at himself and whispered softly, with a twisted grin spread across his face, "AVADA KEDAVRA…"
Malfoy stared at the two of them. He was thinking of what he ought to do now. He was without Crabbe and Goyle. He felt naked. Hermione and George had led while they could and Malfoy was left alone in the midst of all the chaos with his dead friends.
Wait… he still had his wand out… he was next to his dead friends… how would that look if someone spotted him?
Before Malfoy had time to move, he felt himself being lifted by both his arms, which were not being held up by two very strong men, most likely the elder Crabbe, and Goyle, his former friend's parents. The two men carried him far away from the scene of the fighting.