Of Butterflies in a Hurricane

*

A soft hissing echoed off the dark walls and Draco lifted his head slightly. He watched as the snake, Nagini, circled restlessly in front of him. Apparently, she didn't like his captivity any more than he did, though for different reasons, Draco was sure.

He sighed as he watched the large snake slither over the floor, flicking her tongue out every so often, tasting the air to make sure he was still present.

"Hey, snake," Draco said suddenly in a quiet voice. He wasn't sure whether or not Nagini understood anything other than Parseltongue, but he was incredibly bored. It had been about a day since he'd been chained into the chair.

Since he had no company, there was no distraction from the gnawing hunger in his stomach. It wasn't too bad yet, but he knew it would get much worse. No one had been to see him since Voldemort had left the day before. Draco didn't suppose he was allowed visitors.

Nagini stopped her slithering and raised her large head, flicking her tongue out at Draco. He still wasn't sure if she could really understand him.

"How did you come to work for the Dark Lord?" he asked conversationally while mentally kicking himself. He was talking to a snake like it was a person!

That's it, I'm officially crazy.

He watched Nagini, who was looking at him through her dark eyes, her tongue continuing to flick from her mouth. She put her head down and resumed her slithering, though now she moved closer to Draco, as though he had done something to warrant a closer watch.

Draco sighed and tried to relax, but the way the chair was situated did not hold well to relax in. He shifted uncomfortably, thinking longingly of Malfoy Manor where the arm chairs were high-backed but extremely comfortable.

He let his head fall back onto his shoulders as he stared at the black ceiling. It was difficult to tell how long he'd been in there since there was no window and, therefore, no way of telling when the days passed. He only knew it had only been one day because, wherever he was, in the prison of sorts, there must have been a large clock in a nearby town. Sometimes, he happened to catch the chiming of the bells. Other times, though, he never heard it.

He had just closed his eyes as he sat there, wishing desperately that he had some food, or at least another prisoner to keep him company, when a slight noise jolted him up. His head snapped forward, staring through the pitch-black to the other side of the room where he knew there was a door.

Nagini stopped her slithering, once again raising her large, flat head and staring in the direction of the noise as well. Draco saw a small sliver of light as the door slid open. A shadow soon fell upon the entrance as someone stepped into the room.

Draco couldn't see who it was, though, as the door was quickly shut, obscuring the light once more. Draco heard the noise of the person walking across the stone floor towards him. Nagini hissed slightly but didn't move from where she lay by Draco's side, her head raised in the air as if ready to strike.

At once, a torch behind Draco was illuminated and the person was visible. Draco's gasp was small but still echoed around the room. He looked up at the person in front of him, hardly daring to believe.

"Blaise?" he whispered.

The boy in front of him said nothing for a moment. He was tall and slim, yet muscular. His skin was a golden brown and his dark hair hung in front of his dark eyes. He was not wearing wizard robes but, instead, Muggle clothes, something like a pair of jeans and a dark colored tee shirt.

"Draco," Blaise replied coldly.

"Blaise," Draco said more insistently. "Get me the fuck out of here!"

A slight smirk twisted the Italian boy's face. "I can't do that," he said in a casual voice.

Beside Draco, Nagini's eyes were narrowed and her tongue flicked out once more, checking the air. She did not attack Blaise, though, just remained poised at Draco's side.

"But, Blaise, why are you--"

Blaise stuck out his arm for Draco to see. On his left forearm, the dark mark showed black against his skin. Draco sat back in his chair, a feeling of disappointment washing over him.

"Oh, so you've joined him?"

"I am proud to have joined him," Blaise told Draco, his gaze flickering to Nagini for a second. "He's going to give us everything we want, Draco. He has the power to give pure-blood wizards the power they've always deserved."

Draco refrained from saying or doing anything. He knew it would not be wise to reveal his true nature to anyone. Instead, he arranged his features into a blank look and said nothing. Blaise studied him carefully for a moment, and then removed his wand from his pocket.

Draco eyed it but didn't flinch away from it. Blaise played with it idly, rolling it back and forth between his fingers, as though just using it to keep his hands busy. He said nothing for a few moments, tapping the wand against his hand. The sound of the tiny slap echoed around the room.

Blaise gave one tiny flick of the wand then calmly replaced it back into his pocket. Draco gave him a questioning look, and Blaise inclined his head ever so slightly at Nagini.

Draco looked over at the snake and saw that she was now shaking her head back and forth as though trying to rid herself of a pestering fly. She gave another shake and slid away from them, still tossing her head to the side.

Draco looked back up at Blaise, who finally spoke. "The Dark Lord isn't happy, Draco."

"You think I don't know that?" Draco retorted sarcastically.

"He doesn't believe what he's seen. Not surprising since I'm sure it doesn't coincide with Snape's version."

"Well, I can't help that Snape has a horrible memory," Draco told Blaise, trying to retain his haughty manner.

Blaise narrowed his eyes and moved closer to Draco. "You've been lucky so far, Draco. I wouldn't suppose the Dark Lord is always so lenient. There must be something you're keeping from him that he wants."

"If there was, I wouldn't tell you, now, would I?" Draco asked scathingly. He looked up at Blaise and sneered at his once-friend.

Blaise had been one of the few confidants he’d had during school. Crabbe and Goyle had merely been for protection, set by his father. Blaise had actually been able to hold an intelligent conversation, something that Draco had admired about him.

Though he had once been close with Blaise, he had never told him about Harry. He knew better than to tell fellow Slytherins that he was sleeping with their mortal enemy. They would have skinned him alive, or worse, turned him over to the Dark Lord. Harry had been his little secret, and he Harry's, and he was going to keep it that way.

"So you've become a Death Eater?" Draco asked, guiding the conversation away from the previous topic. Blaise raised an eyebrow, telling Draco quite clearly the he knew what he was doing, but he allowed the change of subject.

"The Dark Lord rewards loyal service," Blaise replied blandly. "At the moment, I'm a spy." He looked down at his clothes and back up at Draco. "Muggles." He gave a disgusted face and rolled his eyes.

This didn't quite hold with Draco's experiences with Blaise. Though Blaise was a pure-blood through and through, he had always had a certain affinity to Muggles, something Draco had always jumped to tease him about.

"Muggles?" Draco repeated casually. "So you're living among them?"

"That's classified information," Blaise said coldly. A small noise made Blaise turn his head sharply. It was only Nagini, who had bumped into a wall as she shook her head violently back and forth. Blaise looked back to Draco. "As you aren't in the Dark Lord's confidence right now, I really don't think he'd like me to tell you."

Draco restrained himself once again from rolling his eyes. "And why am I not? Because I failed?"

"Yeah, you failed," Blaise replied simply. "Just because Snape was there to rescue your ass doesn't mean you're safe. As I said, the Dark Lord isn't happy."

"When is he ever?" Draco muttered under his breath, but Blaise caught it.

"Don't let the Dark Lord hear you say that," Blaise said sharply. "You're on thin ice, here, Drake."

Draco looked up as Blaise used his nickname. Blaise's face was blank of emotion as he stared down at Draco. Somewhere off in a dark corner, they could hear Nagini hissing, annoyed.

"Was Snape punished?" Draco asked finally. He hadn't seen or heard anything of the professor since he had left with Voldemort the previous day.

"I haven't seen him," Blaise replied indifferently. "Who cares? He killed Dumbledore. That’s all that mattered."

Draco was silent for a moment. The mention of Dumbledore sent a wave of emotions tumbling through his chest. He had tried not to think about the old man that had died that night on the steps of the Astronomy Tower. That night had changed his life forever as he had known it would, but nothing had gone the way it should.

His thoughts flickered momentarily to Harry, wondering where he was, if he was trying to find him. His heart gave a throb as he remembered the look in Harry's eyes that night before Snape had Apparated them away. Draco let out a breath and looked back at Blaise, who had been silent, studying him through suspicious eyes.

"Is there something you're hiding?" Blaise asked quietly.

Draco raised an aristocratic eyebrow. "Is there something you're hiding?"

"I have nothing to hide. You, on the other hand, what would the Dark Lord want with someone who's failed, brought down his name? Why would he want to keep you around?" Blaise's tone was icy, and his eyes bore into Draco's own.

"I'm sure he has his reasons," Draco replied coldly. He was not enjoying this visit very much. "How did you get in here, Blaise? Only his most trusted would be allowed. He can't trust you. I know you too well; I wouldn't trust you."

"At least you learned something as a Slytherin," Blaise drawled. "He probably doesn't trust me, not truly anyway. But he knows I am loyal, more so than you at any rate."

"And how can he be sure?" Draco asked, staring at Blaise, his eyes hardened.

"He just does. As you said, I'm sure he has his reasons." Blaise gave him a condescending smirk, his hazel eyes glittering in the light from the torch behind Draco.

Draco let out an annoyed huff but didn't respond to the statement. He knew Blaise had done something to get into the Dark Lord's confidence so quickly. Draco knew plenty of things that Blaise had done that would not have gotten him a top spot in the Dark Lord's Order.

Blaise was a Slytherin to the core; loyal to only himself, manipulative, intelligent, and a damn good liar. He did what was best for him, regardless of the consequences to others.

"Can you tell me what's happening?" Draco asked, eyeing Blaise suspiciously.

Blaise let out a derisive laugh that echoed around the room. "You should know better than that, Draco," he said condescendingly, reaching down to pat Draco's cheek a few times. Draco merely scowled at him, his eyes trying to burn a hole in his clothes. "Prisoners have no liberty to know what's going on."

"Well, if you have nothing interesting to say, I'm quite content here on my own," Draco said scathingly, angry at the reaction he was receiving. "You needn't stay any longer."

Blaise looked down at him, a small smirk on his face. He backed up one step then reached into his pocket. He didn't come out with his wand as Draco had suspected. Instead, he had a small piece of bread. He looked around quickly for Nagini and saw that she was still backed into a corner, shaking her head roughly.

He took a quick step forward and shoved the bread into Draco's hand. Draco looked up at him, a questioning look on his face. Blaise stepped back without a word and walked back toward the door through which he'd come.

Just before reaching it, he turned around and looked at Draco, who was still staring after him.

"This place could do with a window," he said casually, nodding his head to Draco's right. Draco's eyes flickered to where Blaise had nodded, but only momentarily, then they were once again fixed on Blaise. Blaise turned around then seemed to think better of it.

He turned back and smirked at Draco. "You're not the only Occlumens in this world, Draco," he said quietly and Draco's eyes widened. Blaise raised an eyebrow and opened the door. Draco heard a whisper of sound and then the door slammed shut behind him.

Nagini gave her head one last shake then slithered back into the middle of the room, clearly looking for Blaise, wondering where he'd gone. She decided that he must have left and looked back at Draco, almost suspiciously. His face was blank as she stared at him. Then she turned and slithered around behind him.

He sighed slightly and took out the piece of bread he had hid under his other hand. He looked down at it and a smile tugged at the sides of his mouth. He didn't allow it to come, though, as he began to quietly eat.


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A/N: I know it's been a while for this fic, but I'm still here and it's still going, if only slowly. The enthusiasm isn't exactly what I'd hoped, but I don't care. I like it. Please review!