Vitualamen

Chapter Two: Hidden Clues

Over the following days and weeks, Draco fell back into his old familiar well worn routine of school, homework, feasting and terrorizing. He tried to forget all that had happened over the holidays, and concentrated on being as hateful and malicious as possible to the "Dream Team" who appeared to have gained a few more admirers over the winter break.

In fact you could almost say that life was pleasant for him, but then you'd be forgetting that if you have too many good days, the Gods get pissed off and start hurling thunderbolts at you. The first thunderbolt came on a sunny spring morning, almost three weeks since his return to the castle in the shape of a rolled up piece of parchment winging its way to him across the great hall at breakfast.

Draco had always been proud of his eagle owl, who never failed to bring him treats and notes from home, and had slightly more control over itself than the other owls that felt it necessary to land in people's breakfast instead of gliding into land neatly beside the plate.

Today however, was a day doomed from the start. Draco had been come to the breakfast table to discover that his favourite cereal had already been taken by a measly third year, and so he was already in a slightly disgruntled mood when his owl Xanth and landed gracefully by his plate. Petting him absentmindedly whilst still deep in conversation with Blaise who was sat next to him, Draco had taken the parchment, broken the familiar Malfoy seal and unrolled the parchment before turning his full attention to the letter.

What he then read made him want to bring up what breakfast he had already had, but he tried to maintain composure in front of the other Slytherins.

Dear Draco,

Your mother and I are quite well, and both send you our best. However this letter is not sent to assure you of our health, but to tell you that the Dark Lord wishes to see you.

He is having a gathering tonight to talk to you and some of the other Death Eaters about his latest plan. You are to be ready by your common room fire at midnight, and make sure that no one else is around.

Draco I feel I should remind you that only a few hand picked of our Lord's followers are being used for this task, so please think before acting tonight and do not make any difficulties for the family.

Draco couldn't help but smirk as he read this last part. No matter how hard his father was trying to conceal it, Draco could sense the bitter jealousy in his father's hand that showed to him that his father was not among those 'hand picked' for the task.

I shall look forward to seeing you soon. Your mother sends her love.

Lucius Malfoy

Draco finished reading, and screwed the letter up.into a tight ball. He knew all he needed to, no matter how sick that information made him feel, and decided to vent his feelings on the letter that had borne him this news. Dunking it into his goblet of pumpkin juice, he brought his wand out from where he kept it tucked up his sleeve, and with a muttered ""incendio" set the whole thing alight.

In retrospect, he hadn't realized quite how flammable pumpkin juice was...

The cheers from the Slytherin's and the slight flicker of a smile from Snape at the teacher's table, cheered him up slightly, and he couldn't help but smirk. However there was a slight trend Draco was beginning to notice with his day, which came in the form of Professor Mcgonagall marching over to him, her glasses flashing dangerously.

Draco resisted the urge to fall face first into his mushy bowl of cereal and try and put himself out of his misery here and now, and instead flashed his most disarming smile at her.

Rising to his feet he swept her a bow,

"Why Professor McGonagall, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing such a charming vision of beauty so early in the morning?"

For a moment McGonagall actually looked surprised, and Draco was sure he saw a smile flicker before it was resolutely squashed again and she continued to glare at him.

"Mister Malfoy, what on earth possessed you to see how flammable the breakfast was this morning?!"

As she spoke, her eyes wandered over to the goblet in front of Draco which was still doing a cheerful impression of the goblet of fire. Draco also glanced at it, and couldn't help feeling proud of himself for such a good piece of magic and so early in the morning.

"It cheeked me professor. I had to show it who was boss."

Admittedly not his best ever excuse, but at least he got to see the result of a rather hacked off McGonagall who looked like she was having trouble not laughing and rolling her eyes at him...

"Ten points from Slytherin, Mister Malfoy and detention tonight at eight o'clock in my office."

With that she marched away back to the staff table, leaving Draco feeling distinctly like he should have plunged his head into his bowl of cereal when he'd had the chance, I mean what else could the day possibly throw at him?

***

Obviously the Gods found the sight of Draco Malfoy having a bad day highly entertaining and continued to pelt him with bits of bad luck, ranging from the small and irritating of having the weaselette run full pelt into him round a corner, to the large and humiliating of having Peeves throw a water balloon directly on top of him.

So it was a very wet and hacked off Draco Malfoy stormed into dinner later that evening, throwing himself down into his usual seat before drawing out his wand and rapidly drying himself. Admittedly his hair was still a little fluffy, but with his detention with McGonagall looming, there wasn't time to do anything else with it right now.

He knocked briskly on Professor McGonagall's office door, which swung open at once to reveal the cheerful interior of a well looked after room. It had none of the eerie chill that the dungeons were famous for, and Draco looked almost longingly to the crackling fire which bathed the entire room in a soft glow, soothing away all the aches and pains of the day. Draco was brought back to the present with a jolt as McGonagall cleared her throat impatiently and gestured for him to come in and sit down in one of the two seats set before her desk. There was a slight pause as Draco did a double take of the occupants of the room, and upon realizing who else was seated before McGonagall he had trouble not crumpling in a heap where he was and sobbing that today just wasn't fair and what had he done to deserve this?

Maintaining his composure to the best of his ability he quietly shut the office door behind him and swaggered over to the vacant chair before the desk. Nonchalantly surveying his nails, he ignored the dark figure seated next to him, biting back every scathing comment that sprang to mind, storing them away for future use.

With a sigh Professor McGonagall turned to both boys once more, leaving her place standing looking out at the dark night that had blanketed the grounds outside, cocooning the castle in it's small glow of warmth and light.

"As you both know, you have been summoned here tonight to serve your detentions each of you have received throughout the day. I have spoken to Professor Snape about this, and he requires someone to clean the desks in the potions laboratory. Both of you will now go down to Dungeon six and stay there until Professor Snape dismisses you."

Beside him Draco heard a faint groan of despair, and he inwardly seconded it with one of his own. The Dungeons at this time of night were no fun even in the dormitories, but the Potions Labs would be murder! He'd be lucky if he survived the evening without turning into an ice statue. Admittedly a dazzlingly handsome ice statue, but that was beside the point...

McGonagall dismissed them, and together they trekked down to the dungeons, neither speaking and both pretending that the other didn't exist, an icy silence turning gradually into a wall between the two as they neared the dungeons. Draco knocked twice and the door swung open ominously to reveal Snape sat at his desk, his usual black robes billowing around him despite the lack of wind in the room. He smirked unpleasantly as they entered, before hissing

"Tut, tut, two naughty boys..."

He smirked at them both and then with a wave of his hand indicated that they should begin scrubbing the desks with the implements provided, before returning to his work. Neither looking at the other, the two boys set to work, scraping away the dried remains of dissected animals and spilled potions. After half an hour of silence where the only sound to be heard was the steady scrape of knives across wood and the occasional dull thud as a handful of scrapings went into the bin, Snape swept out of the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. As soon as his footsteps died away down the corridor the second boy rounded on Draco.

"My my, the perfect Draco Malfoy in detention!"

An evil smirk played around his lips as he flicked his fringe from his emerald eyes. Draco tensed, glaring and then suddenly relaxed into his most cruel smile.

"Why Potter, I didn't know you cared!"

At the glower Harry was now shooting him, Draco smirked once more, tonight was going to be a long evening...

***

Three hours later Draco was to be found collapsed in an armchair before the Slytherin common room fire. The room was empty save for the hunched shadows of the chairs flickering across the walls and making Draco feel drowsier by the minute. He had finally escaped his detention and would love nothing more than to crawl into bed and pretend the world didn't exist for a few hours, and yet here he was sat in front of the fire as instructed waiting for god knows what with some truly foul pieces of dissected animals under his fingernails too...

The world began to blur around him and he found himself sliding between sleep and consciousness, each blurring together to provide a warm blanket for him to hide behind. He began to sink deeper into his stupor, relaxing into it like a favourite shirt, shrugging into the comfortable warmth, allowing it to wrap itself around him.

The mood in the room changed quicker than Draco's thought pattern could register it, forcing him from his relaxed state into harsh reality. His eyes snapped open, and tensing in his chair he surveyed the room. The warmth and light had disappeared as though chased by the shadows, and the fire in the grate now burnt a chillingly icy blue. Standing stiffly, he moved towards the grate, surveying the fire with interest, and under his gaze it twisted, writhing into the dark mark burning swiftly a dark emerald green, leering at him through the darkness. As quickly as it had changed, it moved back to its original state, continuing to burn now in the chillingly blue flames.

Taking a deep breath he stretched out a hand, brushing his fingers gently against the flames. As he had suspected they were cold as ice to the touch, and now holding his head high he stepped into the heart of the fire. For a brief moment as though frozen in time and space, nothing happened, and then with a silent roar, the flames rushed over his head, sucking him down to their depths.

***

Bare moments later he found himself once more on solid ground, and looked up to find four figures facing him, all cloaked, hooded and masked against the chill night air; for as Draco looked around him he found that he was stood in a small hollow in the earth, the heavens gleaming faintly down upon him and the rough hewn stone placed between himself and his companions. As his gaze returned to the figures facing him, he examined them in more detail noting that again the smaller figure was present. The central figure stepped forward lowering his hood, and Draco had trouble trying to force down the scream that was fighting to escape his lips.

"My Lord," Draco murmured before falling to his knees.

Voldemort's face twisted into a smile which pilled his features into more grotesque positions having the adverse affect to calming Draco's nerves. As he stood once more, Voldemort beckoned the other Death Eaters to take their places around the rough hewn stone.

"Now we are all present, we may begin..."

Conjuring chairs for each to sit in, Draco moved to sit gracefully in his, catching the eye of the smallest figure who stared back at him once more. The chocolate eyes warmed and disturbed him, and once more he had a nagging feeling that he should recognize them from somewhere, but who?... As the Dark Lord resumed talking to the present company, Draco dragged his eyes from the irresistible gaze and focused on the information that Voldemort began to divulge to them, settling himself in for a long evening.

***

The morning bell sounded loudly above his head and Draco pulled his pillow tighter about his ears to try and muffle the sound and cling to the fast disappearing shreds of his dream. The three hours sleep he had managed to ensnare had if possible left him more tired than he had previously felt and left him disturbed from strangely blissful dreams full of a soft voice and warm chocolate eyes...

He tried to burrow deeper into the nest of his blankets, but the movements from his roommates did anything but soothe him back to sleep again. Reluctantly he emerged from the blankets, pulling his clothes on rapidly and heading to the bathroom before anyone could see him in this state.

Head held high he emerged from the bathroom over half an hour later, sailing regally past the Slytherins waiting desperately for use of the now vacant bathroom, and headed quickly up to breakfast; if he had to be awake he had to at least have some coffee...

Slumped at the almost deserted Slytherin table, he cradled his head in his hands enjoying the bitter aroma of the steaming mug of coffee before him. The chatter of students washed over him as he sank into a haze on the verge of sleep, ignoring any questions thrown his way by fellow Slytherins. As yet more students sauntered into the Great Hall for breakfast, a voice reached his ears. Draco smiled to himself; it was her voice, the voice of the chocolate eyes. How much he longed to see her face he could barely describe, here he was day dreaming about her, it felt like he could really hear her...

Draco's eye's snapped upon to gaze upon the caffeine filled life before him. His eyes darting wildly from side to side as his brain scrambled to keep up with his thoughts. The voice, it was here.... He wasn't imagining it...

Slowly he brought his head up to gaze around the hall, following the voice with his eyes he gazed across the hall. That was the voice, there. He focused all his senses upon the one head that was turned from him. He could hear her voice, the sweet melody ensnaring his senses once more as it had last night.

She turned, slowly, almost enticing him against her knowledge, and Draco's mouth opened in a most un-Malfoy like gape...

He spluttered, gasping, reeling with the shock of what he was seeing. It couldn't be!

Closing his eyes he focused on the sound of her voice once more, so heavily engrained into his thoughts. It was definitely her voice, but how...?

Draco's mind was unable to produce an answer to this question, and he stared openly, not noticing the stares he was attracting from various students sat around him.

"Draco? Are you feeling ok? You haven't eaten anything! Have some food darling!"

Pansy Parkinson wheedled at him from across the table. Desperate to shut her up, he blindly reached across the table, his eyes never leaving her. Moments later he brought his freshly created sandwich to his mouth, chewing tastelessly on his creation, oblivious to the gawps and stares from those around him.

"Ummm, Draco...?"

The disturbed note in Pansy's voice attracted Draco's attention for the first time since he had entered the great Hall over half an hour previously. He glanced at her and saw the look of complete horror coating her face, before turning to see the equally horror struck faces of the other Slytherin's surrounding him. They all seemed to be focused on the sandwich in his hand, and slightly puzzled now; Draco turned his attention to the sandwich he had made. It all looked normal enough, admittedly he didn't normally make sandwiches of his marmalade toast, but upon peeling back the two layers of bread he blanched. Was that, icing sugar???

His horror quickly turned to amusement, despite appearances it was actually quite tasty! Grinning at the surrounding students who were still transfixed by the marmalade and icing sugar sandwich, he took an exceptionally large bite from it, chewing and swallowing it with relish, enjoying the gasp of disgust and horror that emitted from the Slytherin's.

Now, where has she got to?

Draco returned his attention to his silent watching as she chatted merrily with her friends, casually eating her breakfast. Noting her appearance he realized there were dark shadows under her eyes, and she tried to stifle a yawn. Yes the late nights were certainly taking their toll on her, but was it just that...? There seemed to be a general tiredness surrounding her, not just physical, but mental as if the whole world rested on her shoulders...

His musings were interrupted as she moved to go to her next lesson, her friends slowly getting to their own feet and following her as she leisurely crossed the Great Hall. As she passed the Slytherin table her eyes met Draco's and held for a fraction of second. Then, almost as if she realised he might have guessed her secret; she gave the barest hint of a nod to him and then swept out of the hall, leaving behind a very confused Draco Malfoy.