Darker Side of Me

Darker Side of Me –Chapter 24

The clearing was dark and full of fog and mist. The moon was hiding behind a shield of clouds so there was little light to bathe the area. Off in the distance, there was a large black structure silhouetted against the horizon. It looked dilapidated and sad. Harry had never been here before. He supposed that it was foolish to hope that Voldemort would have kept himself at the Riddle House.

He could see no one around him, but was sure that there were Death-Eaters lurking very close-by, just beyond the range of his vision. He glared into the darkness and did as Moody had told him. He chucked the star into the ground with all the force he could manage. It burrowed deep into the ground and sent out a glowing pulse from beneath his feet.

“Why Harry,” a silky voice whispered from somewhere unseen. “So nice of you to join us. Although, I must say, you are a tad bit late.”

Harry gripped his wand tightly and stood still. He stared in front of himself, straining his ears to detect the direction from which the voice came. He became very aware of the many other people that were present as well. Voldemort stepped forwards out of the fog, looking as hideously inhuman as ever. Harry wasted no time.

“Where is he?” Potter called out. More than a dozen black-cloaked figures stepped forwards into the clearing to circle Harry and Voldemort. His eyes scanned the perimeter quickly, unable to recognize anyone under the masks.

“Where is who?” Voldemort asked, his voice full of breath and deceit. Harry grimaced.

“You know damn well who!” he snapped, his arms shaking. “Where is Malfoy?!”

“Ah, Mr. Malfoy?” Voldemort gestured at one of the black figures. Lucius Malfoy removed his mask and glared maliciously at Harry.

“Don’t be an idiot, Riddle!” Potter ordered. Voldemort growled at the use of his muggle name. “That’s not the Malfoy I’m after!”

“After?” Voldemort feigned naivety. “Whatever would the wonderful Harry Potter want with a Death-Eater?” Harry was in no mood for games.

“He is no longer a Death-Eater,” Harry explained through gritted teeth. His wand hand was yearning to cast a spell. “He is under my supervision and I demand you release him to me! Your war is with me, not him!”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Voldemort drawled. The Death-Eaters snickered behind their masks of death. “How can I release someone that I’m not holding captive?”

Harry stared at Voldemort for a moment. He frowned in disbelief. The Dark Lord was messing with his head. He had to be. Draco would not go back to the Death-Eaters willingly… he had promised that he wouldn’t.

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Potter snapped. His voice was strong but his eyes glimmered momentarily with fear. Voldemort shrugged noncommittally.

“I’m sorry to tell you that Draco returned of his own volition,” he said. Harry’s pupils contracted and the hairs on the back of his neck rose up.

“You’re lying!!” he screamed, holding his wand up to Voldemort. Harry seethed. “Where is he?!”

“Very well, Potter,” Riddle accepted. He waved a hand to Harry’s left. “Ask him for yourself.”

Harry’s eyes reluctantly followed the direction of Voldemort’s long fingers until he stopped on an area of the circle. There was some rough movement behind the Death-Eaters on the inner-circle before Draco burst through the line of followers with two massive black figures to each side. He wrenched his arms away from the both of them, glaring as they tried to touch him.

“Get your filthy hands off me! I can walk on my own!!” Draco snarled, pushing one of them back into the circle of cloaked people. He finally turned to the centre and his eyes fell on Harry.

Harry stared at him for a few moments. He was speechless and confused. He tried to argue the sight away, claiming it was a joke, or an illusion, or a misunderstanding. Potter took in the tall and lean figure before him. Draco looked strong and defiant. He looked powerful and unharmed but more than anything else, he looked like a Malfoy. He looked the same way he always had looked when they were back at school…as if the past few months had vanished away in the blink of an eye.

“Draco,” Harry whispered, his heart falling slowly as though it was going to crash against all his other organs on the way down. Malfoy frowned.

“Watch it, Potter,” he snapped, pulling a sneer that seemed all-too familiar. “You’ve no right to call me by my first name, you filthy half-blood.”

Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was staring at Draco as though he was someone completely different than the boy he’d fallen in love with. And he was. He was something completely different. He was rude and insulting. He was evil and cold. There was a ringing in Harry’s ear as though signaling that this couldn’t be real.

“Careful, Draco,” Voldemort warned. “We mustn’t be rude to our guest. The niceties must be observed, as I’ve told Harry before.” Harry’s eyes flashed to Voldemort for a moment but he ignored him.

“You came back?” Harry asked, staring at the blonde before him. “You came back willingly?!” Draco seemed unbothered.

“Of course I came back, Potter,” he spat, the same arrogant expression on his features. “I had a task to complete, after all.”

“And well done, Draco,” the Dark Lord praised. “You certainly have earned your position among the ranks of your father. I’m quite pleased you’ve embraced your true calling.”

Harry couldn’t breathe now. His muscles were tensing and his fist tightened around his wand, the gold ring now digging painfully into his skin. His eyes felt agonizingly dry as he knew there were wells of tears growing from deep inside of him. He could do nothing but stare at Draco for a moment, his mind passing over all of the things they’d done together…all of the love he’d given Draco, all of his body.

“You were in league with him the whole time?!!” he finally managed to utter, though his voice was loud. He wanted to collapse and let them kill him… or else he wanted to kill them all in an instant and torture Draco for the rest of his life…he wanted Draco to suffer like he had done…but he didn’t.

“Noble to a fault, weren’t you?” Malfoy murmured at him, something of a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. Harry screwed up his eyes, refusing to cry.

“You were admitted into the Order!” he bellowed, his entire body shaking. “Dumbledore trusted you…. I TRUSTED YOU!”

*_*_*

Draco’s heart tensed and his stomach fell a few feet, possibly through his feet if it could. He stared at Harry. He let himself get screamed at. He let Harry start to hate him. He let it all happen and did nothing to stop it. Indeed, he added to the fires, if anything at all. He had to. Why couldn’t Potter understand that?

“Dumbledore’s a damned old fool!” he yelled back, trying to get the terrible gnawing feeling out of his stomach through his voice. “And I told you not to trust anyone!! Least of all ME! It’s not my fault you’re a bloody terrible listener!”

Malfoy could see Potter’s heart break as though he was ripping it apart in his own hands. And he was. He was literally tearing Harry’s heart out and cutting it to pieces right in front of him. He knew he was but there was nothing he could do. This was the only way…

“You bastard!! You bloody bastard, I hate you!!”

The words cut through him like knives. Draco’s eyes were masked and the façade he’d spent so many years perfecting was seamlessly in place but if he could have, he would have fallen apart right there and let himself die on the ground. He desperately wanted Harry to curse him again. He wanted Potter to let all his anger out on him and destroy him so that he didn’t have to face himself in the morning.

“Good! Because I damn well hate you too!” he found himself yelling back. He was trying to taunt Harry. He was trying to convince him that he was meaningless. If he did well enough, Harry would have no reason to stay and fight Voldemort. He’d only come because he wanted to save Draco, but if Draco wasn’t worth saving…there was no reason to be there. Right?

But Potter wasn’t cluing in on that. He wasn’t doing as he was supposed to. He was just supposed to disappear the way he’d appeared and be out of this danger. He was supposed to save himself and get away. But he wasn’t moving. He was just standing there, staring at Malfoy as though he’d just run over his heart. He was staring at Malfoy in such a disappointed way that Draco whimpered inaudibly. He wished Harry could know how sorry he was…

“Poor Potter,” Voldemort whispered, running a finger over Harry’s cheek. Draco’s anger flared. He had no right to touch Harry. NO RIGHT. “Your damsel in distress turned out to be a snake, didn’t he?”

“Get your hands off me,” Harry growled, holding his wand up to Voldemort’s face. The Dark Lord held up his own wand in return, though he had a smirk on his face.

Draco felt strong hands hold him back and pull him into the circle. The people around him continued to hold him strongly in place. They were not going to let him intervene, but Draco hardly noticed. He only paid attention to the confrontation between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.

“Shall we try this again, Harry?” Voldemort was asking. He took a step or two back. Harry did as well, their wands still steady in place.

“I suppose we shall,” Potter spat, glaring at the man before him. Voldemort bowed his head to Harry with a smirk.

“Remember the niceties, Harry,” he demanded. Harry simply nodded his head. “I hope you are ready to die, Mr. Potter.”

“You old fool,” Potter whispered, his eyes darting to Draco for a moment. “I’m already dead.”

Draco’s gasped. The fight began.

A/N: Obviously I'm completely ignoring the Horcrux idea, which would only make my life more complicated, ehehehe. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! I'll post another chapter later tonight, because well, I have it and I feel as though I should. Anyways, not too much to say except that Draco breaks my heart. Daw.