Disclaimer All the characters that you recognize are the private property of JKR. I do not own anything though that's wishful thinking.
The cave was quite dark, save for the soft luminescence seeping through the a crack in the cave wall. It was mercifully silent inside except for the deep breathing of an oddly bent shape lying on the floor, trying to drown itself in the darkness. An occasional streak of moonlight illuminated the foggy outlines of a young man not older than seventeen. His cold breath rose in front of him in a mist and slowly disappeared into nothingness. His eyes were closed though he wasn't asleep. He was completely drained of all energy but he was frightened to go to sleep. Afraid to see it again in his nightmares, he kept himself as cold and uncomfortable as possible.
He swollen eyes suddenly jerked open. He could hear faint voices in the distance, getting louder with each step the speakers took in his direction. His heart nearly stopped beating. The search is on, he thought, suddenly scared. He kept very still, fearing his movements would attract attention to where he was. The voices passed on. Nobody came inside and he breathed a faint sigh of relief. Tonight … I must get out of here tonight, he thought.
Draco had frozen, his eyes set on Dumbledore.
'Draco, do it, or stand aside so one of us - ' screeched Alecto, but at that precise moment the door to the ramparts burst open once more and there stood Snape.
'We've got a problem, Snape,' said Amycus, 'the boy doesn't seem to be able -'
Then came Dumbledore's weak voice, 'Severus…'
Snape said nothing but strode to the centre, his wand raised, and pushed Draco out of the way. 'Severus please…'
And before Draco could even open his mouth to protest Snape pointed his wand directly at Dumbledore's heart.
'AVADA KEDAVRA!'
Draco shot out of his fitful sleep, his face shining hard with sweat. For a moment, he didn't realise where he was. All he could remember was a bright flash of green light. Everything was very still and calm. He tried getting up, ignoring the stinging pain in his back and stomach but his feet were wobbly, and he almost fell down again as got up on his feet. He groped the walls for some support in the darkness and found a rock jutting out of the cave wall. Steadying himself, he cautiously headed towards the entrance of the cave.
As he had thought, not a soul was around. Apparently, all the Death Eaters had finally retired to sleep. As soon as he stepped out of the cave, he stumbled and rolled down the side of the cave. He hoisted himself up on his elbows and looked around. Although it had been dark in the cave, outside it was flooded with moonlight, and Draco found himself in a gully. He turned around, but couldn't see the entrance to his hiding place.
That doesn't matter now, he thought, I won't be returning.
He got up again and walked blindly along the rough slopes of the channel, which had been eroded by the forceful gush of a stream at some point. As he looked at it, a sudden inexplicable shiver ran down his spine.
He knew he had to leave this hell's pot of fire quickly. But before he could leave for ... wherever, he had to find where his parents were put to rest. Aunt Bella had told him that she had buried them in a deserted cemetery about a mile away.
After running for what seemed an eternity, Draco finally crossed the school perimeter. He whipped around looking for his teacher, but could just hear people scuffling in the dark grounds of Hogwarts. He suddenly let out a gasp as he saw Hagrid's hut on fire. He hesitated. He wanted to go back. Just before he could run back towards the hut Snape appeared out of nowhere, pulled his arm and they Apparated, Snape guiding him in Side-Along Apparition, as Draco had not yet passed his test. Right after Snape and Draco Apparated to their destination, Snape led him through a small tunnel in the mountainside. Draco was too stunned to even speak, and shuddered when Snape grabbed his arm.
'Where are we going?' Draco finally asked.
'The Dark Lord wants you to deliver him the good news,' Snape replied. 'He doesn't like to be kept waiting for long.' The travesty in his tone was evident. Draco gulped. He had seen You-Know-Who just once before. That was when he was being branded the Dark Mark with Blaise last summer. He had a sense of foreboding that it wasn't going to be a very pleasant meeting at all.
Suddenly, Draco heard chanting noises, which became louder as they approached their destination. After another twist of the tunnel, they entered a huge cave lit by a strange blazing green fire at the centre of the cave-floor. Draco thought it was floating on air. The noises that Draco had heard stopped abruptly. Draco could see the faint outlines of the hundreds of cloaked and hooded people that had filled the cave. But only about twenty of them were kneeling around the fire, forming a broken circle.
'So, you managed it?' came a high, cold voice from behind Draco. He froze. Snape slid down on the floor in a kneeling position too.
'My Lord,' Snape said in a revered tone. 'Albus Dumbledore is dead. Everyone did fine.'
Draco winced as he felt a cold iron grip on his shoulder, slowly turning him around until he was face to face with the Dark Lord: the most evil wizard ever. Draco lowered his head in what he prayed would be a respectful bow, despite the bizarre urge to look up at him in defiance and tell him that after all his threats, he had finally succeeded in his plans.
'Your mother would have been proud, Draco. She'd have loved to see you return victorious...' the Dark Lord paused, 'as would your father.' This completely caught Draco off his guard, and he looked up into the scarlet eyes with cat-like slits for pupils. 'I'm afraid you are too late.' His hand left Draco's shoulder as he drifted behind the mysterious green fire.
Draco stood very still as he slowly absorbed the impact of the Dark Lord's words.
'They ... they're ... no. You are lying,' Draco whispered in a blank voice. The crowd shifted nervously.
'Draco beware of whom you are talking to,' came someone's steely voice.
'You killed them?' Draco mumbled ignoring the Death-Eaters unrest. Then, as the Dark Lord didn't comment, Draco's voice rose to a shout. 'YOU KILLED THEM!! I spent my entire year to do your task and you couldn't be patient enough for a few more weeks?!' Draco screamed.
'CRUCIO!!'
Curses flew from different directions and hit Draco in the stomach. The force of the curses threw him off his feet; he rose in a graceful arc and landed a few feet away. Blood oozed out of the corner of his mouth.
He experienced excruciating pain as he had never felt before. This was even worse than the punishments that his father had given him for petty misdemeanors. And as he thought about him, his heart filled with emotion.
He got up on his feet again, and slowly turned to face the Death-Eaters, his face etched with every shred of hatred that he could muster. But before he opened his mouth, a fresh array of curses flew towards him and he collapsed again, this time fainting for good. Unconscious, he could not fell being rolled down roughly in a dark corner, and being left there to die...
**
Draco woke up after what seemed to be ages. He was in a dark alleyway. His back and stomach hurt like hell. He tasted blood on his grimy, moist lips. He thought one of his hands had broken as tried to pull himself up. Suddenly he heard shuffling noises near him and he froze. Someone is coming. He found out that I've sneaked out of there, he thought terrified. Then a soft whispering came to his ears.
'Draco … Draco … can you hear me? Where are you dear?' murmured a voice that was strangely familiar.
'Aunt Bella, is that you?' Draco shot out eagerly in a tone hoarse with hurt, anguish and relief at the same time.
'Oh, thank Merlin! Draco! I've been looking for you for so long,' the tone sounded much warmer now. 'Did you crawl this far?' she suddenly asked.
Draco nodded having no idea where he was. He had gained consciousness and slithered away in the darkness quite not seeing where he was going due to his swollen painful eyes being tightly shut.
'I thought you were … but never mind that now,' she said and squatted down next to him.
Silence. After a few more painful moments passed, Draco asked the question that had preoccupied him ever since he reached the safety of this cave.
'Aunt Bella, was he..' his voice faltered, '..was the Dark Lord telling the truth? Are my parents really dead?' Draco didn't notice how his aunt froze at those words.
Bellatrix, a woman known to have the grit of steel, was suddenly speechless as she looked at the innocence on her nephew's face. There was a lump in her throat that she couldn't gulp down.
'Yes Draco. They're … ' she couldn't go on further. 'I buried them myself … in a cemetery about a mile away from here,' she continued after a short while. 'I'm so sorry.' Neither of them said anything for a long time. Draco sat against the cold wall; his eyes wide open; sleep quite elusive.
I did the damage tonight. And for whom? Voldemort hadn't cared about anything. He killed my parents. As he thought about it, a pain so sharp, so fierce, ran through his body that it made his physical torture quite bearable. I can't stay here. He decided. I can't stay among these murderers for the life of me. He glanced at his aunt. When everyone else had left him to die, she was the only one who came to him. She was crumpled in a heap, taking deep breaths. She's sleeping. Run Draco, run now and don't look back.
XX
Draco didn't have his watch. It had broken away from his wrist during the scuffles at school. But he guessed he had been walking for over an hour now. His progress was very slow, now that he was devoid of any energy. Only a mad sense of realization had possessed him, and that was dragging his feet forward.
It seemed that the young schoolboy with striking blonde hair had aged over thirty years in just a few hours. His silver hair was beyond recognition. It had turned into a strange murky brown, maybe due to the grime and blood. Who am I? This is not me. I've become a ghost with no hope of life. Merlin! Why couldn't things be the way they were before, he thought pensievly.
As he stumbled along, he realised he could just Apparate to his father's grave, but he wanted to feel every part of the pain in knowing that the only two people worthwhile to him were now no more. Of course, Voldemort would detect his magic and he would be captured: that was another reason.
Finally, after the tiring journey of over an hour and a half, Draco reached the deserted cemetery. Having never entered a cemetery before, Draco didn't know how to go about it. He tried to scan through the darkness but was unsuccessful. Come on Draco, they are in there and no one can stop you from meeting them...not even Voldemort.
Looking around for one last time, making sure he was alone, Draco gently pushed opened the wrought iron gates of the cemetery and entered. As he passed through the narrow passages, he saw the various tombstones built in the memory of their loved ones. Few were decorated with flower garlands, a few with beautiful Greek statues adorning them at regular intervals. His eyes wandered over the entire area as he searched for a freshly buried site. After an abrupt turning, Draco let out a soft gasp. He was looking at two beautiful tombstones. It was creamy marble with the words 'LUCIUS MALFOY' and 'NARCISSA MALFOY' engraved in amber.
Too taken aback to do anything, Draco walked silently over to them and collapsed in front of his parents' graves. His hand ran over the smooth, cold surface of the tombstone. Seeing the two names made their death seem final. Draco had a stupid fantasy that his mother wasn't actually dead. She was merely taken away somewhere and Draco would find her soon. He had a terrible urge to cry out loud, but he tried to restrain himself. You are a Malfoy. Malfoys can't just break down. He thought sternly. You are strong Draco, control yourself. But he couldn't help it; he slumped against the memorial and broke down into heavy tears.
As he looked up at the bright starry night, a seemingly endless stream of thoughts came tumbling into his head. Where would he go; that among the most important. He couldn't just turn up at any of his fellow Slytherins' place. He knew for a fact that everyone's father or mother was a Death-Eater. He couldn't go back to his mansion either. The Ministry would have boarded it up already. It was unfair that he was being accused of a murder he never committed. I've got to tell them the truth. They have to know what really happened.
But who would listen to his plight? All everyone knew was that he was with Snape when it happened, when Dumbledore got killed. Who would understand his pain? His only living relative was at the mercy of that son-of-a-b***h with no assurance of life or death. A sound distracted him. Probably just the wind, he thought. It was getting cold and he snuggled into his ragged cloak. If he wanted to get out of this place, he'd have to think fast.
There was a time when he was envious of Harry Potter and he wanted to be like him. He wanted to be as good as he was on the pitch. With a sudden and unexpected pang of pity, he realized how must it feel to be Harry Potter. And now, I'm just like him; with no parents, he thought bitterly.
He sat motionless for a few moments. And then it hit him. Of course, of course. There is someone who can help me and who'd understand my hurt. But how could he just turn up in their backyard? It wasn't quite a secret that Draco and Harry were best of enemies. You are a Malfoy. Have you no dignity? He scorned. Are you actually considering going to the home of those poor, deprived red-heads?
It was ironic that even at the lowest moment of his life, Draco could not stop thinking like a Malfoy.
But as Draco turned and looked back to see the grey mountains towering up over him, he knew what he wanted to do. He got up on his feet with surprising agility and walked to a clearing. His destination was very clear in his mind. He turned around once more to look at the lonesome mountains in the distance. But he wasn't alone now...
'AVADA KEDAVRA!'
A bright stream green of light hit Draco square in the chest; he keeled over to lie motionless next to his parents graves, his shadowy grey eyes wide open in shock and disbelief.
The silent, fearful night was punctuated with a high, cold laughter followed by a loud CRACK as Lord Voldemort disapparated back to his followers.
A/n : Reviews please! I don't want to sound whiny but your reviews will prompt me to write my next fiction quicker! :-)
1 Euthanasia means a painless death usually given to free one cursed life
Euthanasia by evanescence17
Chapter Notes: A/N This is a one-shot, my take on what possibly happens right after the HBP. All characters have been taken from the HP, I own nothing although that is wishful thinking.
I want to thank my beta - hogwartsduchess, who did a fantastic job. Correcting punctuation can be very tiring and irritating for all you know. So, thanks once again.
This is my first FF, so all reviews:good, bad, ugly are welcome. Read Euthanasia and please take some time to review it on your way out. Cheerio :-)