Silent Nights

Title: Silent Nights
Genre: Angst, Romance, Drama, Slash
Pairing: Harry/Draco, Ron/Hermione
Warning: Disregards DH
Summary: Draco makes a choice and risks everything and in the end loses everything. He tries to make a fresh start with his life but is faced with physical and emotional obstacles.
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowlings. Just borrowing them for this story.
No copyright or trademark infringement is intended. No money is being made, this was simply written for fun.

Chapter 2


Draco groggily awoke to find that he was lying on his side in the middle of a dark cell. The first thing he noticed was a steady throbbing pain throughout his body, it seemed to pulse in his blood. The second thing he noticed was an incessant ringing/buzzing within his ears. Everything around him sounded muffled, almost as if he was listening to things underwater.

He felt something warm trickling down past his ears. He shakily brought a hand up to his forehead and felt a nasty gash through his left eyebrow.

He felt something warm and wet near his ears. He carefully moved his hand over to his ears next and pulled his hand back and was not surprised to see more blood.

He carefully sat up and crawled from the middle of his cell to the back wall, leaning heavily against it, his body exhausted from that simple exertion.

To say his father was pissed when he caught Draco aiding the Trio’s escape was an understatement. His father had nearly beaten him within an inch of his life. He was actually surprised that he was even still alive.

Draco let out a raspy breath then shifted unsteadily from where he sat wincing as he continued to discover new injuries.

Despite his ominous position, Draco could not help the smirk spreading across his split and bloody lips. He imaged his father standing before Voldemort trying to explain how Potter and his friends escaped.

He ignored the slight pain as his smirk widened, wincing slightly as he aggravated his abused lips as he thought about the pain that was being inflicted upon his father by his great master. “Serves the bastard right,” Draco muttered.

‘What do you think will happen to you when Voldemort finds out that you were the one responsible for Potter’s great escape?’ a persistent voice nagged in the back of his mind.

Draco had never been brave in any sense of the word. If he was honest with himself, he dedicated his life in choosing friends who would only benefit him and he would always take the safe route. To move higher up, he would throw you under the bus and laugh about it later. In a word, he was a bastard. But all that changed within one life-altering year and it all began with the arrest of his father. His world went sharply downhill from there. Over the years he had witnessed horrible atrocities and found he just could not stomach it. The longer he stayed in Voldemort's presence, exposed to such monstrous cruelty and brutality, the deeper he felt himself falling in the surrounding presence of continuous darkness. He found his resolve for Potter's destruction at Voldemort's hands weakening and at times would silently cheer when Potter and his friends would one-up Voldemort and his Deatheaters.

His mother’s death had been the final blow. He wanted personal retribution for the death of his mother, the only soul on this forsaken earth who had cared for him, murdered because he could not kill Dumbledore. A mission doomed to fail from the start. Though he did not show it, his mother’s death devastated him. He did not even mourn his mother properly as he held all pretenses that what was occurring around him had little to no effect on him. But inside he was dying.

When he had accidentally overhead his father speaking about horcruxes one evening, he knew he had discovered the ultimate way of ensuring Voldemort’s down fall. Somewhere deep inside he found the courage to fight. Discretely, he passed along anonymous messages and tips to Potter, anything that would aide in bringing the demise of Voldemort. It had been a difficult choice and one he did not choose lightly as his personal mantra in life had always been “Self-preservation above all else.” A mantra he had learned from his father.

The sound of his cell door squeaking open drew Draco from his thoughts. A thin bar of dim torch light from the corridor lay wavering on the floor through the opened cell door. A silhouette stood motionless in the doorway. Without warning, the door shut, plunging the room back into darkness. Draco held his breath as the heels clicked against stone drew closer.

A tall, dark hair Deatheater drew his wand at Draco. “Get up and move.” Draco braced himself against the cell stonewall and painfully heaved himself up.

He leaned heavily against the cool damp stonewall, forcing his breath to come in small, measured gulps. His skull felt as if it were about to split open with pain, nausea was churning his stomach into a vortex, and every breath put almost excruciating pressure on his bruised ribs. If he managed to hobble out the door of this cell, he had no idea how he would even make it down to where ever it was the Deatheater was taking him.

The Deatheater swished his wand toward the direction of the cell door. “Now move.”

Draco moved toward the cell door and felt the point of the Deatheater’s wand poking him in his back as he led Draco out of the Dungeons.

He was escorted, or rather shoved toward his father’s study. A Deatheater who stood guard just outside Lucius’ study opened the door while the other Deatheater behind him shoved him roughly inside. Draco stumbled into the study. He looked over his shoulder, as the study doors were pulled shut, the two Deatheaters remaining outside.

He turned toward the large polished mahogany desk situated to the right of the room where is father was seated. Sitting across from Lucius was Severus Snape who had yet to acknowledge Draco’s presence.

Draco was slightly puzzled as to why his potions professor was there before he returned his attention to his father. He could not help the faint smirk on his lips as he noticed how pale and disheveled his father looked. His body was trembling slightly. The telltale sighs of the cruciatus curse.

Lucius turned cold hard steely eyes on his son, his lips curled in disgust.

Draco swallowed trying to moisten his suddenly dry mouth; his heart racing as his father slowly stood and carefully lifted his wand and pointed it at him. He closed his eyes waiting for the impending unforgivable curse.

“Expelliarmus!”

Draco snapped his eyes open and was startled to see Snape hovering over a collapsed Lucius clutching onto his disarmed wand in one hand while aiming his wand at Lucius with the other.

Draco found himself unable to move as he watched the scene unfold before him.

Lucius slowly pulled himself up straightening his robes before turning his narrowed gaze at Snape.

“How foolish of you Severus. What do you expect to do now? Walk out? You and the traitorous boy will be dead before you take two steps out of this room.” Lucius spat.

Snape pulled out an old faded green handkerchief from deep within his robe. “You will lower the wards within this study now, Lucius.”

Lucius gave a loud laugh. “Your mad. I will do no such thing.”

“You forget Lucius, I know the one thing that you value above all else. Self-preservation. Now, drop...the...wards!”

Lucius stared with intense hatred at Snape before he closed his eyes. Draco and Snape felt the magic within the study begin to shift. Snape moved toward Draco, his wand never moving from Lucius. He took the handkerchief and opened it to reveal a bottle cap within. He looked down at Draco and nodded to the bottle cap. “Three, two, one.” Simultaneously, Snape and Draco reached for the bottle cap and felt the familiar pull behind their navels as they were transported to the gates of Hogwarts.

Draco nearly collapse, but Snape swiftly steadied him. Draco took a few fortifing breathes then looked up at the large castle looming in the distance, the only place he had ever called home. He felt a sudden anxiety as emotions swirled in his mind. He had just defied his father and could never go home. His father would stop at nothing to see him dead. What would he do now? No one would offer him, a Malfoy, protection. Even under constant supervision the Trio were still apprehended by his father.

He was alone.

“I can’t go back, Sev.” Draco whispered, his head bowed. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look up at Severus.

“I thought as such.” Draco knew that Severus would understand the reasons for Draco not staying. If anyone knew how ruthless and relentless Lucius could be it was Severus Snape.

Snape reached within his cloak and pulled out a deep purple, velvet sack. The contents within the sack clinked as Severus placed the sack into Draco’s hand along with his wand.

“It’s not much, but hopefully it will be enough to get you as far away as possible. I also took the liberty of retrieving your wand prior to your arrival to your father’s study.”

“And this...” Snape held out his hand and Draco's eyes widened. A rush of intense emotions threatened to dissolve his hold of the situation. In the palm of Severus Snape's hand held Draco's most precious possession. A Black heirloom necklace “the Sword Pendant” symbolizing power, protection and authority, was given to him by his mother when Draco was 13 years old.

Even his father was unaware of its existence as he kept it hidden behind a glamour as requested by his mother. He attributed the secrecy of the necklace as a private and special moment between a mother and her son. He had not expect to ever see it again. It had snapped off from around his neck when Lucius hit him with that stunning spell during Potter and his friend's escape. How Snape managed to find it and known of its importance to him was another enigma of Severus Snape he would never understand.

Draco stared at the necklace he held within his hand then turned wide-eyed to his former head of house. “I don’t…Sev….I don’t know what to say.”

“Just take care of yourself, Draco.”

“We should both leave. Sev, by helping me you have put yourself in danger as well.”

Snape shook his head. “I will be fine. Besides, too many depend upon the potions I create.”

Draco bowed his head then looked back up, “I’ll owl you…”

Snape held up his hand. “No, do not try to contact me. It would be best…safer.”

Draco felt a large lump in his throat and could only nod.

Snape drew out his wand and a small bluish green potion, which Draco immediately recognized as a mild healing potion. Draco grimaced as he down the foul tasting potion. Snape then cast a few healing spells over Draco. “That is the best I can do without my main healing potions I’m afraid.”

“Thank-you. You have already done so much.”

Not one for sediments, Snape gave a curt nod and soon apparated away. Draco watched as Snape’s figure disappeared. He then turned and headed down the path that would lead away from the wizarding world he had grew up in. He never looked back.

******************************************************************************************************************


It took quite some effort, but Draco was able to take the money that Severus had given him and converted it into muggle money to purchase a plane ticket and fake ID. After his purchases, he had a very small sum of money left over.

Draco strode up toward the departure gate and stood in line. He suddenly drew his hand up to his ears as the buzzing that had begun as a small hum started to intensify. The voices around him became garbled. Shaking his head slightly the buzzing soften marginally.

He stepped up and gave his ticket to a women standing by a narrow podium. The woman took the ticket, tore off a section and handed it back to Draco.

“Enjoy your flight.”

Draco cocked his head to the side, trying to hear the woman's voice past the incessant buzzing, trying to distinguish her muffled words. When she handed him his tickets, he gave her a nod and followed a couple ahead of him through a narrowed, enclosed ramp leading to his plane.

Draco watched as the couple stepped through the door onto the plane and handed their tickets to a smiling flight attendant. The man seemed to study the tickets, handed them back and then pointed toward the front of the plane.

Draco stepped up next and also handed over his tickets. He watched the man's lips move hearing only broken words. “You…eated….A….middl….ane.” He watched as the attendant pointed to a section on his tickets then directed him toward the middle of the plane handing back his tickets.

Draco turned and moved in the direction the attendant pointed to and looked down at his tickets to where he had indicated earlier and read 23A. He continued to move down the right side of the narrow isle behind an elderly woman. He watched, as she seemed to study her ticket they gazed up toward the ceiling as if searching for something.

He looked up as well and noticed letters with numbers beside them. It finally clicked. 23A was his seat designation. He too looked up and began to search for his seat at 23 A.

Finding his seat, Draco stuffed his small backpack containing a change of muggle clothes and other essentials he had purchased with some of the remaining money Snape had given him. He then settled in by the window.

Draco peered out the window idly fingering the pendant now attached to a braided leather cord around his neck. He watched as men drove past in small vehicles with several carts attached, which were loaded with various sizes of luggage. He was fascinated with the muggle world, so different from the world he grew up in. This world just seemed so much larger and he suddenly felt so small and insignificant. At that moment he became overwhelmed with immense feeling of terror of the unknown. What the hell was he getting himself into. He knew nothing of this world, but then what other choice did he have. He literally had no place to go.

He was lost in his bleak thoughts when a plump lady plopped down beside Draco and turned to him. “Your…irst…on…ane?”

Draco furrowed his eyebrows and looked over at the lady beside him. “Pardon?” Draco watched the woman’s lips move as he tried to understand the broken words she uttered.

Something about asking him if this was his first time on a plane he guessed. He simply nodded and hoped the woman would leave him alone as he returned his gaze back towards the strange world just outside the small oval window. Draco soon became lost in his thoughts once more. The buzzing or ringing in his ears, or rather the lack thereof including every other sound was increasingly disturbing him. He had hoped that with time, it would improve, but this was not the case. It only seemed be getting worse.

The woman beside him huffed muttering, “Rude teenagers today.” But Draco did not hear her.

Draco was startled out of his thoughts as the plane jerked slightly and began to move.

“Well, this is it.” Draco thought.

The plane steered itself to a vacant runway. Draco felt heavy vibrations as the plane's engines roared to life and suddenly began to pick up speed. He gripped onto his armrest wondering once again what the hell he just gotten himself into. He felt his stomach give a slight lurch as the plane lifted off the ground.

Draco peered out the small oval shaped window watching as the land below became more distant until he could see nothing but white fluffy clouds and blue sky.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Did you enjoy the story? What would you like to see happen? Please send me your reviews.
Thanks and greatly appreciated.


If you want a peek at the Draco's pendent, it can be found here. This was a website I found when bored one day. Really cool stuff.

http://www.tribalhollywood.com/Detail.bok?no=173&cat=Fight+Symbols

_______________________________________________________________________