Hey, everybody! Time for another chapter! We pick up exactly where we left off. Dumbledore was finally killed, and Draco can't help but think that he killed him.
Disclaimer in two parts. One: I own nothing, and there is no copyright infringement intended. Two: I edited this when I was sick, so the quality might not be what you're used to. Sorry! But I hope you enjoy anyways!
Chapter Nineteen
Snape and the other Death Eaters Apparated me home, and my mother quickly embraced me. She let me go after a moment looked me in the eye, seeming to scan me for something. "Are you alright, Draco?" she asked.
"Of course he's not!" Bellatrix answered for me. "He knows he's disappointed our Dark Lord."
"Disappointed how?" Mother inquired, her voice lingering between high-pitched concern and a lowered seriousness.
"He didn't kill Dumbledore," my aunt answered.
Mother glanced between me and Bellatrix before commanding me to my room. I didn't fight her and willingly retreated. I didn't have any fight left in me.
I shrugged off my suit jacket as the picture of Dumbledore falling from the Tower replayed itself in my mind again.
I jumped at the mental image and dropped my blaiser. The memory was terrible, and I was on the verge of Obliviating myself to get rid of it, but I couldn't. Undoubtedly, You-Know-Who will want a report on everything. He'll learn that I didn't kill him, and then he'll kill me.
I should be scared, but I'm not. I'm not scared of dying. I felt practically nothing at all.
But my hand was shaking so hard that I couldn't undo my tie.
A loud knock sounded at my door, and my father entered a second later. "Did you do it?" he demanded.
He looked terrible. He looked as sick as I was. He had black spots under his eyes and he was paler than I had ever seen him. He looked panicked and worried.
"No," I answered, dread carving a hole in my chest.
"What do you mean 'no'?" he almost shouted.
"I-I couldn't do it," I stuttered, fearing his reaction.
Father took a deep breath and shook his head. "I told you that you had to do it before they came," he reminded. "Is he dead at least?"
"Yes," I slowly answered, the moment in the Tower playing in my mind again. "Snape killed him."
Neither of us spoke for a time, but that didn't stop me from wondering if he would he kill me? My family? Make me kill them as punishment?
Before I could ask my father, my wrist that held the Dark Mark burned like fire. I hissed and grabbed my wrist, shutting my eyes against the pain.
I glanced up at my father and found him staring at his own Dark Mark. The Mark was twisting and convulsing on his skin.
"Is that normal?" I asked, straining to keep my fear out of my voice, but even I could still hear the emotion resonating in my words.
Father looked at me with pity and answered, "Yes. I know it's painful, but it means we're being summoned. The Dark Lord wants to talk to all of his Death Eaters, and that includes you. Come on."
Father grabbed my trembling hand and towed me out of my room. "How do you know where to go?" I asked, unsuccessfully trying to take my mind off of Dumbledore.
"The more it happens, the better you'll be able to know. A picture forms in your mind, and it'll get clearer over time," he hurriedly explained as he forced me to a stop outside of the closed doors to our dining room. "Now, be quiet. The Dark Lord is just behind this door," he warned, burning worry in his eyes as his voice dropped to a whisper. "You failed to fulfill his wishes, so only spoke when specifically asked to, and he's going to do any number of things to you to have you make up for your failure."
"Like what?" I muttered, images of death and torture filling my mind.
"I don't know. But there's no way to prepare for it."
I didn't respond, but I drew in several shaking breaths to try to calm myself, but it didn't work.
"Draco…" Father began, getting me to look back up at him.
He froze. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't get the words out. Eventually, he shook his head and opened the door.
Behind it, every Death Eater was assembled. Bellatrix, Greyback, Snape, even Crabbe and Goyle's fathers were present.
And in the center of them all was the Dark Lord with his dangerously thick snake coiled near his ankles, looking ready to strike. His hand griped the bone-like handle of his wand as he stared at me with intense disgust. He glanced at my father and cocked his head to the side.
Father nodded and joined my mother and the walls of other Death Eaters, leaving me alone.
"Draco," the Dark Lord called in his breathy voice. I looked up at him, but avoided making direct eye contact. "You failed to kill Dumbledore. Why?"
I swallowed back the lump in my throat before mumbling, "I was afraid to."
"And why were you afraid?" Voldemort demanded as his snake hissed threateningly.
"I've never killed anyone," I quietly answered, my heart jumping at the sound of Nagini's hiss.
"A lot of people have done things for me that they have never done before. So why should the fact that you have never killed anyone before stop you from obeying my order?"
I didn't say anything. How could I? I couldn't say that I felt guilty about killing Dumbledore before I had even raised my wand. Feelings like guilt and regret were rejected by the Death Eaters and Voldemort. They were weakness. I would be considered weak, and I had no idea what they would make me do to "toughen me up".
"Crucio!" the Dark Lord shouted.
Searing pain speared me in the chest and threw me to the floor. A scream tore itself from my throat as I hit the ground. My body convulsed of its own accord, trying to escape the burning poison coursing through my veins.
"Stop this!" someone shouted. "He's just a boy! He couldn't be expected to kill someone!"
The blinding pain abruptly ended, leaving me breathless. I laid on the floor as I struggled to get my lungs to work again.
"Was it not you who suggested him to do so, Lucius?" the wheezing voice of Voldemort inquired.
"I recommended him to repair the Cabinet and allow the other Death Eaters through," my father's voice forcefully countered. "Not to kill someone. You were the one who wanted Draco to kill Dumbledore."
I finally managed to get my eyes to open during a moment of tense silence. I forced my head to turn in the direction of my father's voice and discovered him standing near the Dark Lord with a mixture of fear and defiance in his expression.
"Are you suggesting that I made a mistake, Lucius?" Voldemort questioned, a threat ringing in his voice as he turned to face my father with a challenge in his slitted eyes.
You-Know-Who's thick snake bared its teeth and hissed loudly as the Death Eaters surrounding Father and the Dark Lord backed away several steps, creating a ring around them. Even Snape backed away.
Father glanced around at the retreating Death Eaters before quietly stuttering, "N-no, my lord. I-I am only saying that…" He trailed off.
"That what?" Voldemort demanded.
My father's breathing grew visibly shaky as he stole a glance at me. He looked afraid. More afraid than I had ever seen him.
I tried to force myself up to at least be able to support my weight on my elbows and look more encouraging for him, but all I succeeded in doing was making more pain burn through my torso. I hissed and fell back to the ground, the snickering of several Death Eaters reaching my ears.
I looked towards my father, and he locked eyes with me for moment. I didn't know what my expression communicated, but he looked sadly at me and turned back to Voldemort.
"Perhaps I was the one who made the mistake," he hesitantly muttered.
"Are you saying that you have no faith in your son, Lucius?" Voldemort pressed.
Father took an uncertain step back. "N-n-no. I-I-"
"Perhaps I can help you rectify your mistake," Voldemort offered before raising his whitened wand and waving it in my direction, throwing my father to the floor near me.
Father turned his head and looked at me, a mixture of fear and regret in his eyes. He opened his mouth and hesitantly whispered, "Draco." He was so quiet that I almost couldn't hear him. "I'm so-"
"Crucio!"
My father and I both screamed as that same red hot pain raced through my body. My mind drifted back to that spell Potter cast in the bathroom a week ago. The Torture Curse was all too similar to Potter's spell-which nearly killed me. Maybe Voldemort was trying to kill me.
Something inside of me slipped, and the pain slowly dulled. I pleaded that my consciousness would fade soon.
I thought I had gotten my wish when the influence of the Cruciatus Curse abruptly ended, but I was proven wrong when my rushing breath burned my raw throat.
"Get them out of my sight," Voldemort hissed.
Several hands soon lifted me from the floor, the sudden movement making more pain burst inside of me. I was so dazed and exhausted that I couldn't open my eyes. The echoing slapps of shoes on the hard floors was the only indication that I was being moved.
After a few minutes, a door was kicked open and a Death Eater shouted, "Get in there, Malfoy!"
The hands that carried me pushed on my back, and I was thrown through the air. I painfully impacted the ground a moment later, the air instantly leaving my lungs. The door was slammed shut, and I was left alone on the floor, gasping for breath and holding my side.
I laid on the floor, trying to get my head to clear, and after a while, I finally managing to get my eyes open and found myself in my room. I forced my unsteady legs to stand and stumble over to the door. I tried the handle.
It was locked.
I was locked in my room with no idea what was to come. Someone will probably torture me again. They had to. According to them, I needed to be punished because I failed to kill Dumbledore.
I wandered to my bed and fell down onto it as the events in the Tower played again in my mind.
Why did Snape kill him? He knew just as well as I did that Voldemort demanded that I should have.
I suppose I should be grateful. If it wasn't for Snape, I would have killed a man. I have no idea what it feels like to kill, and I wasn't anxious to learn.
But now I was subject to torture and who knows what else.
Cliff-hanger, I know, I know. You'll find everything out next week...