“Run Draco…" Professor Snape's voice echoed in his ears as Draco ran as fast as he could. He only had to make it as far as the school's gates to Disapparate.
"Crucio."
Potter's screams barely registered in Draco's brain as he continued to run. Flashes of light were barely noticeable behind him. He faintly heard Professor Snape's reply, guttural and almost animal in its ferocity, but Draco couldn't make out the actual words. Finally he was through the gates that separated Hogwarts from the open country.
"Disapparate Malfoy Manor." Draco felt the familiar tugging at his middle, as Hogwarts and its surroundings swirled around him sickeningly fast. In a moments time he was standing outside of Malfoy Manor. He stood in the spot where Professor Snape had insisted he wait for him. He shivered in the night air, feeling colder than he could ever remember feeling.
"I've failed," thought Draco, as he sank to the ground. He sat on the side of the road, trying to control his emotions.
How could he have let Dumbledore get to him? Dumbledore saying that he knew all along it was Draco trying to kill him. Calling the attempts Draco had made on his life feeble. Draco's mind raced back. The cursed necklace . . . the poisoned wine . . . Snape had practically laughed in his face at how stupid he was being.
"Professor Snape has been keeping watch over you on my orders."
Dumbledore too had seen how badly he had messed up. He sat staring at the road, wondering how Professor Snape could save any of them after this. He had Dumbledore disarmed! He was alone on the tower with him. All he had to do . . . Draco only had to say the words and he would have saved them all. Maybe his father had been right all along. Maybe he was too stupid or spoiled or weak. Draco sat back and looked at the sky, which was too cloudy to let any stars shine through. He thought of his mother. She had assured him that Professor Snape would protect them all.
"Severus… Please." the pleading in Dumbledore's weakened voice rang through Draco's mind. It had sounded so pathetic. Had Dumbledore been telling the truth? Which side was Snape on?
He heard the pop echo through the dense night air as Professor Snape Apparated. Draco stood quickly and cleared his mind as best he could. The only hope he and his family had right now was standing in front of him. Whatever else Professor Snape was, he was a survivor. He had managed to do the Dark Lord's bidding for years, and remain relatively unscathed.
"Draco," Professor Snape said, "Listen carefully. The Dark Lord expects you to have failed. He set you up for failure. If I had reached the tower first, before those cretins . . . " Snape's voice faltered as he struggled to think of his next move.
He looked deeply into Draco's eyes. Draco, for his part, met Professor Snape's gaze evenly. He shut his mind to the past few hours' events. Professor Snape broke his concentration and stepped away from the boy.
"That's not going to work with the Dark Lord, Draco." Professor Snape said quietly. "He needs to see something. If you cut off everything, he'll kill you."
Draco looked at the ground. He knew that Professor Snape was right; He closed his eyes and concentrated. He filtered out the doubts that Dumbledore had planted in his mind about Professor Snape and the Dark Lord. He threw away all memories of Dumbledore's offer to protect him and his family, leaving only faint hints of Dumbledore's pleadings. He concentrated as deeply as he could on the moment he stood in front of Dumbledore, trying to conjure up the mixture of fear of killing, and deep respect he had always held for his Headmaster. He was practically shaking, just as he had on the tower. When he felt he had reinvented the necessary moments to perfection, so that what he felt and remembered would gel with those of the Death Eaters who had witnessed him with Dumbledore, he looked up at Professor Snape.
Professor Snape stepped back in front of the boy and again stared deeply into his eyes. The mixture fear and respect flooded Professor Snape's mind, as did Dumbledore's pleading. Clever boy, Professor Snape thought, as he alone knew this could not have been the way these moments played out. He knew Dumbledore too well. Professor Snape withdrew his gaze, and ran the memories through his mind, trying to determine if this was good enough to keep the Dark Lord from killing Draco.
"How much did the others see of your conversation with Dumbledore?" Professor Snape asked finally, knowing they would all be too willing to throw Draco away for even a hint of advantage with the Dark Lord.
"None of it." Draco answered, confidently, beginning to feel more like himself. He could tell by Professor Snape's demeanor that he was probably going to survive.
Draco followed Professor Snape through the heavy gates of Malfoy Manor. It was a strange feeling, being home. Normally, this was his favorite place in the whole world. The opulence of the house and grounds fed his ego, and his mother's deep, unconditional love and faith in him made him feel well-grounded. But now, with the most powerful wizard of all time in attendance, it felt oppressive. He swallowed hard and went through the front door, keeping his mind and emotions as steady as possible. They entered the parlor and found only the Dark Lord, Aunt Bellatrix, his mother, and shockingly, his father. Lucius didn't register any emotion as his son entered. Draco felt his mother's worried eyes burrowing through him, but he didn't trust himself to look at her. He stared straight ahead, surprised at how even his emotions were.
"So, Severus," Voldemort began, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "I take it by your presence here tonight that young Mr. Malfoy has finished his task."
"The task has been managed, My Lord." Snape replied evenly. "Dumbledore is indeed dead.”
"Subtle difference in your answer from my question," Voldemort observed. "How was your task completed Draco?"
"I managed to trap him on the Astronomy Tower, and disarm him, My Lord." Draco answered.
"But your task, boy, was to kill him, was it not?" Voldemort's voice rose with each word. "Tell me Draco, were you Death Eater enough to kill him?"
"He was unable to perform that portion of the task, Master," Professor Snape interrupted. "I took it upon myself to have that pleasure."
The Dark Lord's eyes flashed horribly at Professor Snape. "Crucio," he intoned, snapping his wand at the man. Professor Snape collapsed on the floor writhing in pain.
Voldemort turned his attention to Draco. "Come here, boy," he said, his voice steely with controlled anger.
Draco did as he was told and stood in front of Voldemort. He could feel the wizard's mind delving into his. He stood motionless, controlling his thoughts and emotions with surprising ease. Finally, Voldemort broke contact. He stood looking at Draco. No one in the room breathed as they watched the exchange.
"At your age, boy," he began quietly, "killing was already second nature to me. But, not many are as advanced as I was. You have been relatively useful. I'll let it pass this time, but only this time."
The next few days passed in quick succession for Draco. He tried to spend as much time in his room as possible. This was not as often as he would like. The Dark Lord liked the attention of his followers, especially the followers named Malfoy. He seemed to take a great pleasure in belittling Draco and his parents at every opportunity, much to the delight of the others.
Draco sat slumped in his chair, staring vacantly into space, trying not to notice the revolving figure suspended over his head. He looked serendipitously up at it from time to time, recognizing Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies teacher from Hogwarts. Muggle Studies had always been quite a joke in Slytherin House, as was the squat little woman who taught it. He knew this could not be good, and was dreading what had to be ahead. Draco looked over and saw his mother give him a guarded smile, which he carefully returned. He snuck a quick look at his father, trying to read his emotions from a distance of four feet. Lucius returned the boy's look, but the emotions he sensed were troubling to Draco. On the one hand, he could feel his relief in being freed from the mental tortures of Azkaban. On the other hand, he sensed his trepidation about the Dark Lord's obvious drop from lucidity, something, frankly Voldemort shared with Aunt Bellatrix.
Author's notes:
Thanks to NikkiSue for her great betaing, and cmwinters for her attempted rescue.
Selected parts of Snape's & Dumbledore's dialogue taken from pages 604, 588 and 595 of the US first edition hardcover of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by JK. Rowling.
Deathly Hallows, Revisited by Slytherins
Chapter Notes: This chapter was written by leahsm2.