Chapter 1 – A Painful Meeting
Draco felt a blinding pain in his arm, and realized that his father and aunt were right; this was something that couldn’t be described. Even after having experienced it a few times, each time seemed to be more painful. His burning arm felt like it would fall off soon, so he Apparated.
When he got there, he saw that most Death Eaters had reached the site already, and was surprised to see that no one had a pained expression on their face. Indeed, they all seemed quite eager to be there, as if keen to see who the Dark Lord would torture this time, while each person hoped it wouldn’t be them. Draco caught some eyes behind the masks, looking at him with amused contempt. He panicked, wondering if he had done something wrong, and looked around him. He wanted to find the grey eyes that belonged to his father, to question him: had he done anything wrong?
His attention drifted, however, when someone emerged from the shadows and sat in a high chair provided by Wormtail.
Voldemort fell on the chair with grace, and looked around him silently. Draco felt the Lord’s eyes fall upon him and stop. Suddenly, a Death Eater broke out from the crowd, kneeling before Voldemort.
“Lucius,” said his voice icily, raising the hair on Draco’s arms. “You dare interrupt me?” he questioned dangerously.
“My Lord, forgive me. I wanted to beg your pardon in behalf of my son, and to offer a way to make up for it,” said Draco’s father humbly.
Draco had wondered what on earth his father could be suggesting as a sort of make up for his failed assignment. He knew he had disappointed his father hugely, but thought that there was no way Lucius would risk his son’s life, at least not without telling him.
The voice of terror interrupted Draco’s thoughts, saying mockingly, “And whatever could you offer that could make up for that slight mishap? If Severus had not killed Dumbledore, he would still be alive. As unfortunate as it is, your son did not contribute with his presence.”
All of a sudden, Lucius’s head went down, and for a second his face held a look of pure pain, as his hand got bared down to the floor, pressing harder each second. Everyone seemed to understand what was happening except Draco, until Voldemort spoke again.
“Never interrupt me again, Lucius. You may continue,” he said, his icy eyes warning everyone as he spoke.
Kneeling even further, Draco’s father went on. “I am sorry, my Lord, I did not mean to defy you. I beg your forgiveness, and my son’s, by asking you to send him instead of me in search of Potter. Because of his failure to complete his assignment, they will probably be more lenient towards trusting him –“
“Are you making the same mistake again, Lucius? You dare defy my orders?”
Draco looked at his father with a mixture of anger and confusion. He was totally incredulous, unbelieving of the fact that his father would just burst this on him, without even telling him first.
“No, sir, I only thought that –“
“It appears that your son is not aware of this plan, Lucius,” he said, savoring each syllable. “Are you, young Malfoy?
All the attention having been turned to him, Draco did the first thing that came to his mind. He lied. He lied to protect his father, a father who, in spite of everything, he still idolized.
“I am, my lord. I would do all in my power to get back your trust, my lord, including doing this instead of my father,” he answered from his place in the ground. At that moment, all he could concentrate on was keeping his mind free of any thoughts. He knew that if Voldemort caught him lying, neither he nor his father might make it alive from that place.
Draco could feel him searching for any sign of dishonesty, and didn’t dare look up. Just as he was starting to feel death coming near, Voldemort spoke again, “Don’t fail this time, boy.”
*
Back at Malfoy Manor, the youngest Malfoy was arguing heatedly.
“…Just marvelous, father. So you do realize that I am supposed to get the trust of a family that has hated you, me, and our whole family forever? And that if I don’t succeed in getting this trust, I will die a very agonizing death? What were you thinking of?”
“I was thinking that you were capable of doing it, Draco. You can be very charming when you want to be, you know that. Just use that charm, and they’ll fall in love with you. You fit the paper of “boy in need of rescue” better than me, anyways. Don’t you think so, Draco?” said Lucius in a soft voice.
He continued while Draco kept fuming. “You’ll leave tomorrow morning. I trust you’ll be more composed by then. Good night, son,” he said, retiring from the room.
“Good night, father,” replied Draco through clenched teeth.
What has he gotten me into?
A/N: And here is the first chapter! In case you're wondering, Hermione comes in on the next chapter.