Title: An Ideal Death Eater
Authour: Sing to Angels
Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and I don't own any of these characters. But I do have dreams about going back in time with the first four books and publishing them under my name and making lots of money. Does that count? No? Damn!
Authour's note: I'd like to thank all the little people who made this possible... oops, wrong story. I'd like to thank my loverly beta readers, without whom this work wouldn't be possible. I'd like to thank Xenadrine for giving the mental capacity to write and of course, my son, who makes it impossible to write one sentence without having get up and pull a kitten out of his mouth. Please review, it makes me feel like all the time I spend writing this is worth something. But I won't beg. You wanna flame me? That's okay, my feet are cold anyway.
Summer was at an end, and the train to Hogwarts appeared to be the same shiny red it was the last time they had all stood at Platform 9 ¾, maybe even more so since it was covered by a thick sheen of rain. With heavy hearts, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley boarded the Hogwarts Express, knowing that this was to be their final year as students attending that prestigious institute of learning. Ron's younger sister, Ginny, who was entering her sixth year, trailed behind them.
"Just think, Hermione, after this year there won't be any more studying. You'll be heartbroken," Ron teased as they all sat down in the cushy compartment Harry had found empty.
"Oh," Hermione groaned, throwing herself in the seat across from Ron. "Don't remind me. Unlike some others, I actually enjoy learning new things. But, just because we are leaving Hogwarts soon, doesn't mean that we have to stop studying. I'll be attending the Aurors' Academy in Belfast. I just received my acceptance letter yesterday."
"Way to go! At least now I know I won't be by myself next year." Harry pounded Hermione on the back hard before he forgot that she was quite a bit smaller than him and stopped. "Oh, sorry, Hermione."
"That's all right, Harry. I know you're excited," she coughed out after the air had caught up with her lungs once more.
"You're both going to Aurors' Academy?" Ron exclaimed, crossing his arms and pouting like a petulant child. "What about me?"
Harry sighed and shrugged. "You didn't want to go, remember?"
"Yeah, but that was only because... well, I didn't want to leave Hermione and Ginny by themselves," he finished quietly.
Dark brown eyes flashed with annoyance. "You thought I wouldn't be accepted into the Academy, Ron?" Hermione asked in a deceptively sweet manner.
"Well, not that exactly..." Ron trailed off. "Aww ruddy 'ell, you're gonna whomp me anyway. So it don't matter what I say now, do it?"
"Ronald Weasley! I've asked you not to curse in front of me. Think of your sister at least." Hermione shook her head and grumbled the last. "And your grammar is deplorable."
Ron glanced at his sister, stifling a laugh and then back to Hermione across from him. "I said ruddy, and I didn't even say hell. 'Sides, she's got a mouth like a sailor that one does. You should hear her at home!"
"It's small wonder with examples such as yourself."
"Hermione, maybe you should give S.P.A.C a rest just now. We have a ways to go and the train hasn't even started moving yet," Harry sighed out of the side of his mouth.
"S.P.A.C?"
Ron snorted at Ginny. "Yeah. Society for the Prevention of Adolescent Cursing."
"Does that cover real curses too?" Ginny piped up curiously.
"It should. Do a sight lot better than some club to prevent me from saying what I please," Ron groused.
Harry rolled his eyes; it was going to be a long trip.
Suddenly, the door to the compartment was flung open and a dark hooded figure stepped forward, filling the frame with his shoulders. Silvery droplets clung to the expensive black velvet and seemed to wink as the fabric shifted.
And the drama was only just beginning.
Ron sucked in a breath and screamed. "Aah! A Death Eater!"
The figure snorted and pushed the hood back, allowing the washed out sunlight to gleam softly over his moon-tinted hair.
"Bloody hell," Harry breathed. "Is that old Spindle-legs there?"
This statement earned him a hard thump from Hermione and he winced. "Sorry, Hermione."
Ron recovered himself, flushing briefly with anger and embarrassment. "Same bloody thing as a Death Eater."
Hermione was staring at Draco Malfoy in puzzlement, not even bothering to whomp Ron. Ginny just swallowed, her eyes the size of dinner plates.
"You look... different."
"Yeah," Ron piped up, fully recovered. "He isn't a spider."
Harry snorted and Draco only glared more fiercely.
"Don't think I've forgotten your little joke from last year, Potter. I will be returning the favour soon, have no doubt about that."
"So what, you decided to come and scare us half to death in that get-up? Not much of a revenge if you ask me," Ron snorted.
Draco narrowed his eyes dangerously. "No, I figured I would give you all fair warning." He turned to sweep out of the small room but paused to aim a crisp glance at Harry on his way out. "Be on your toes this year, Potter."
With his exit, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and Ginny rubbed arms that had suddenly gone numb with cold.
"What did you do to him last year, Harry?" Ginny asked, a little unsure she wanted to hear the answer.
Ron smacked her arm and guffawed. "Oh it was priceless, really. Harry there turned him into a spider on the train home before hols and he almost got squashed by the food trolley coming through!"
"I wouldn't laugh too hard, Ron. You screamed like a girl when you saw him come racing towards you on eight legs," Harry smirked. "Besides, I didn't even think of his getting almost squashed," he added in a whisper to himself.
"Twasn't my fault! I'm scared of spiders, you know that." Ron slumped forward and crossed his arms. Ginny however, was howling.
"I wish I could have seen it! Ron screaming and Malfoy skittering." She wiggled her fingers in a motion that could only be determined by the rest as that of a spider, creeping about.
"Was it just me or did Malfoy seem--" Hermione broke off, searching for the proper word. "Wider?"
"Well, he'd have to be wouldn't he? Couldn't have gotten any thinner than he was before," Harry threw in.
"Aye, that grub was about the lankiest git I've ever seen. Even worse than poor Harry here."
"Hey!"
"Well, you are pretty thin, Harry." Hermione patted his arm soothingly.
"I'm still growing. I'll catch it up soon enough."
Ginny shook her head. "The way these two eat, I'm surprised they haven't tripled in size. If I ate as much as they do, you'd have to roll me down the street."
"They're boys, Gin. They can do all sorts of stuff that would put us in an early grave," said Hermione before letting out a long-suffering groan.
"Too right! I'd hate to see you both in the Quivering Rooster or some such place. Not fit for ladies."
Ginny and Hermione turned a cool glance in Ron's direction. "Have you been frequenting such a place, Ron?"
Ron sent a silent plea to Harry for help, but he only shook his head.
"Sorry mate, you opened your mouth."
"I didn't go by my bleedin' self!"
Harry's ears turned bright red as the girls glanced at him. "We--I mean--"
"Oh Ron! What would Mum say?"
"She won't know if you don't squeal on us."
"But that place is dangerous! There are all sorts of bad elements there," Hermione gasped. "Think of those horrid women strutting about in almost nothing."
Harry smothered a grin and winked at Ron.
"I think they were thinking of those horrid women, Hermione," Ginny snapped peevishly. "Honestly, and you two wouldn't even let me go on an innocent trip to visit Colin this summer."
"Innocent?" Ron roared. "That bloke has had his way with more girls than you could count. Like I'd leave you alone with the likes of him. Creepy little feck."
"He has not!" Ginny shouted back fiercely. "He only told you guys that because--" she stopped and closed her mouth quickly.
"What?"
"Nothing. It isn't any of your business."
"Like he--"
"Ron! Leave her alone, all right."
"But she--"
"Drop it; you're acting like a two year-old. Let's all try to get some rest before we are back at Hogwarts. We were all up late last night," Harry grunted as he bunched up his cloak and stuffed it behind his head. He didn't feel the need to sleep so much as he was just tired of the bickering.
Ron muttered something off colour under his breath and followed suit. Hermione yawned and put her feet up on Ron's lap, resting her head on Harry's shoulder. Ginny's legs weren't long enough to reach across the seat so she tucked her heels underneath her and leaned over to put her head on Ron's shoulder.
It was this scene to which Harry awoke later, startled to realise that they were already at Hogwarts Station.
*~*~*~*~*
Harry rubbed sleep-crusted eyes as he gazed around the room. Dusk was setting in and he could hear the last of the students stomping off the train.
"Wake up everyone, we're here."
Hermione yawned and stretched small, slim fingers up into the air above her head. "Already? We just went to sleep."
"Ron, wake up." Harry shook him lightly and frowned when it failed to rouse him. "Ron!"
"Butterflies! Aaah!" Ron jumped up as if he had just sat on a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Ginny fell to the floor and smashed her face against the seat's edge.
"Ow! What did you do that for?" she cried, rubbing at the blood dribbling down her chin. Harry felt his lip twitch for only a moment before he helped her up and put his handkerchief against the wound. The Weasleys were all overly dramatic.
"We'll take you to Madame Pomfrey as soon as we get inside Hogwarts."
Hermione crossed her arms and smirked up at Ron. "Butterflies?"
He scowled. "Yeah, butterflies. They'd scare you too if there was loads of them flittering about your head."
"Were."
"Were what?"
"Never mind," Hermione moaned as she moved over to Ginny. "Let me take a look at that."
Ginny lifted her chin obligingly as Hermione prodded the wound gently with her finger.
"That will need a suture charm, and I don't know how to do that yet. But I can make it stop bleeding."
Hermione raised her wand and touched it to Ginny's bottom lip.
"Sanguin Ligare."
Instantly the blood stopped gushing and the wound sealed over. The split was deep though, it would need to be put back together or poor Ginny would appear as if she had an upside-down harelip.
"Hey!" Ron shouted. "The door is locked."
"Locked?" Harry frowned. "Use your wand if it's stuck."
"Alohamora!"
The door remained stubbornly locked, despite Ron's desperate attempts at pulling it open.
"You'll only injure yourself, you perverse thing. Someone must have charmed it." Hermione stated calmly what seemed like an obvious conclusion to her.
"Malfoy," breathed both Harry and Ron.
"Help! Let us out of here." Ginny started pounding on the door, hyperventilating slightly as she struggled with the lock. "I can't stand being locked in here like this!" she sobbed.
"Shh, Gin. It'll be alright," Hermione soothed as she made Ginny take a seat and breathe calmly and deeply before turning to look outside. "Ron, see if the window will go up. We may be able to float down if we can squeeze our way out of it."
Both Harry and Ron pushed and pulled with all of their might. It didn't budge by a fingerbreadth.
"Rumpere!" Ron screamed at the casement. It did nothing; the window was magically shielded. The spell bounced off and hit Harry's glasses instead, causing them to shatter.
"Thanks, Ron," Harry mumbled as he removed his glasses and fumbled for his wand to repair them.
"Sorry."
Suddenly, the train lurched and began to leave Hogwarts Station. Through the window, they could all see Malfoy smirking at them. He raised a hand in mocking farewell and Ginny returned it, rudely.
"Ginny!" Hermione slapped her hand. "I don't care if he is a prat, that was just awful."
She shrugged and took her seat again. "We're stuck on the train and going back to London. He did it, so he deserved a full salute."
"We're going to miss the feast," Ron moaned as he and Harry's stomachs rumbled loudly, the sound echoing off of the walls.
"Is all you think about food related?" Ginny snapped.
"Well, not all I think about..." he mused.
"Oh, right. I forgot about your collection of Playwizard under the creaky step on the stairs at home."
Ron's eyes bulged. "How did you--"
"Percy showed me. He thought I may want to burn them if you ever hacked me off too badly."
"Percy is an annoying prat. I'm gonna--"
"This isn't helping anything!" Harry shouted before Ron had a chance to detail his brother's demise.
"Well, what are we going to do? Sit around and play Exploding Snap? We are on our way back to London!" Ron yelled, red-faced and panting from a curious mix of frustration and embarrassment.
"Both of you stop it, I'm getting a migraine." Ginny put a hand to her head and leaned back into her seat.
Harry looked around the compartment miserably. What a way to begin his seventh year.
*~*~*~*~*
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
~ William Blake~
"Malfoy," Professor McGonagall pulled the boy aside after his Advanced Transfiguration class was through.
"What is it, Professor?"
"Professor Dumbledore sent me a note stating that you are to go directly to his office after this class was over."
"Why?" he questioned blankly.
"How should I know? Go on, he's expecting you."
Draco grumbled as he made his way toward the Headmaster's office. He knew where it was, but since his Head of House, Professor Snape, dealt with most of their problems Draco had never been there before.
The spiral stairs were down and he stepped into the small nook, waiting to be taken up towards whatever fate had in store for him today. It was bad enough that Potter and his group managed to make it back from London so quickly. Only took one night and in they stomped, bright and fresh as if they had spent the evening in their dorms sleeping on feather mattresses.
Draco groused some more before finally coming up to the Headmaster's door and knocking softly.
"Come in, Draco."
He sucked a deep breath through his nose and took a step inside of the warm, cluttered room. The heat was almost too much. The permanent frost that usually covered his body was being shocked off to retreat elsewhere for the time being. His fingers tingled as they started to thaw. It was nearly close to being full-blown pain.
"You wished to see me, Headmaster?" Draco bowed his head in what he hoped was taken as a gesture of respect and subservience.
Obedience was a lesson thoroughly drilled into his brain from day one.
"Yes, come take a seat." Dumbledore gestured to the chair before his desk. Draco sat as he was bid and waited impatiently for the Headmaster to say something.
It was a long time in coming.
Dumbledore tilted his head to the side and surveyed the boy long and hard before finally beginning to speak.
"You've grown this summer, Draco."
"Yes, Headmaster."
The man waved this aside. "Call me Dumbledore. Enough of that Headmaster bit; makes me want to look around for who you're addressing."
Draco did not smile.
"Lemon drop?" The professor offered.
"No, thank you."
Dumbledore shrugged and popped a few of the sweets in his mouth and chewed them softly before continuing.
"You look to be more of a man this year, Draco. I understand the other students were teasing you last term because you were so tall and thin. But you've filled out, I see."
"Yes, sir." Draco fought hard to keep the bite out of his words. Spindle-legs, among others, had not been his first choice of nicknames.
"That's good, that's good." Dumbledore leant back into his chair and put another of the Muggle sweets into his mouth. "I think you know why you are here today, Draco."
Malfoy lifted an elegant brow. "Not exactly, sir. Perhaps you could enlighten me?"
"You were seen charming a compartment door on the Hogwarts Express yesterday."
He didn't have to say which door; Draco knew full well which door it had been.
"I believe they were mistaken, sir."
"Possible," Dumbledore nodded. "Very possible. However, I've summoned you here for another reason. All punishment aside, I believe you suffered enough on your way home last year for me to further bother you with house points and that sort of rubbish. I'll leave that between Mr. Potter and yourself."
"Then why am I here, sir?" Draco asked, honestly puzzled.
Dumbledore sighed and steepled his fingers closely. "What I am about to say can be taken any way that you wish. I only mean to inform and possibly prevent further harm to yourself or others."
Others being Potter and his followers, of course. Draco swore silently to himself but continued to arrange a blank mask on the outside.
"I would like for you, if at all possible, to at least restrain your temper when it comes to Mr. Potter and his friends. I know that the rivalry between you is legendary, but for the sake of the world, put it aside and concentrate on your studies this year.
"I don't expect you to be friends, merely not so openly hostile towards each other. I've already had this conversation with Mr. Potter and the rest of his group. So you shouldn't have too much of a problem with instigation on their part." The old man knitted his eyebrows together and looked over his half-moon spectacles to further relate the serious nature of his words. "They are all in grave peril each and every time they step outside of Hogwarts. Harry for obvious reasons; Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley because of their connection to him.
"The incident on the train, although seemingly harmless, could have cost them their very lives. Voldemort's supporters are everywhere and see everything. It was a ripe opportunity to finally have done with The Boy Who Lived and we can't allow it to happen again." Dumbledore shook his head sadly before continuing. "It is dark times we are in now, boy. Darker still yet to come. Now is not the time for petty rivalries."
"I understand, Headmaster," Draco parroted the acceptable response, fully well aware that he had called him 'Headmaster' once again. Why the old man thought he could be trusted was unclear. Maybe he was being toyed with. Any fool knew instinctively that Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater. And it was furthermore commonly known among the Hogwarts crowd that Draco was just as dark and unfeeling as his father.
"Do you truly understand, I wonder." Dumbledore faded back into his thoughts, obviously musing something carefully. "You may go, young Malfoy."
Draco stood to leave but was instantly set upon by a large, scarlet-feathered bird. He tried to shove it off his shoulder but to no avail.
"What does it want?" he ground out, not caring anymore that he hardly sounded civil. The professor did nothing, merely waiting for what would happen next.
The beautiful phoenix spread its wings and bent down to carefully rip open Draco's shirt.
"Sir, get this thing off of me at once!" Draco shouted, attempting in vain to push the bird away.
Dumbledore didn't answer, still watching with hooded eyes as the bird finally revealed Draco's pale chest under the remains of his white oxford. From the corner of its eye appeared a large, pearly drop of fluid, which seemed to hover a moment in the air before splashing on Draco's skin in a place just above his heart.
From the instant of contact, Draco felt a burning where the tear had fallen. Heat radiated and spread out to every pore of his body. Light-headed, he fell back against the chair and grabbed his aching chest in one hand.
The bird sent out a keen of song that further aggravated Draco's sensitive brain before flying off to land on top of a large cage in the corner of the room.
"What did it do to me?" Draco cried, still clutching his chest in a hand that trembled violently.
"I'm sorry, my boy. I don't like to bother Fawkes when he is keen on doing something. That was only a tear that you felt. Apparently he felt you in need of healing."
"Healing?" Draco whispered furiously. "I'm burning all over!"
There was a twinkle in Dumbledore's eye that Draco almost missed. "You may want to see Madame Pomfrey then. It's possible you are allergic to phoenix tears."
"Y-yes, I think I will do that. Am I dismissed, Headmaster?"
"Of course, go and see Poppy now. Maybe she can help."
Draco nodded his head dumbly and stood to leave. How he ever managed to stumble to the Infirmary, he hadn't the faintest clue. He only knew that there was a burning inside of his chest and his brain fairly exploded in full sensory overload.
Madame Pomfrey checked him over, placing a cool hand over a feverish brow before clucking her tongue and sending him straight to a standard bed.
It was only after she had administered a very pungent, foul tasting potion that he was allowed to rest. The roaring in his head was dulling, as if someone had pulled up a blanket to shroud his mind. Sighing a little, Draco drifted off to sleep.