CONQUERED - DRARRY

20

DUMBLEDORES POV

Something was not right. My office was quiet, only the sound of Fawkes rustling his feathers to disturb the silence.

He kept looking at me, sadness and fear in his black eyes, despite it being nowhere near burning day.

Something had to be wrong.

I frowned and checked my watch. I'd always been complimented by astrologers on my watch. Planets and moons orbited my watch like numbers on a clock. It usually was comforting, staring at the planets on my wrist.

But this time, the moon was darkened. The watch moved skittishly, like fearing something we're about to happen.

I frowned, just as Professor Marseielle of Beauxbatons burst in angrily.

"Dumbledore!" She thundered. "I demand you tell me what this task is!"

My eyebrow crinkled. "I'm sorry, Professor Marseielle, but I am unable to do that."

Her eyes were too bright, face distorted in rage. "Why not?"

I frowned. "Because. All I know is that the Ministry representative will be controlling this task. He shall be here shortly."
Her face was blank, the rage from a few moments ago vanishing strangely.
"You are welcome to be here when he does, but until then... sherbet lemon?"

She wavered where she stood for a moment, blinking rapidly. Without a reply, she left, eyes glazing over as she stared ahead.

I looked at my watch again, after closely watching her face. Something was not right.

DRACO'S POV
The release from the hospital wing was less satisfying than I'd imagined. I was nothing more than a pawn now. I didn't have a choice.

Harry Potter.

My Harry.

Would be dead. And it would be my fault.

Wandering around the castle, although pointless, proved slightly therapeutic. Focusing on walking, on moving one leg at a time. Watching the paintings converse animatedly with each other. Feeling the dark mark on my forearm shiver, as if trying to escape off my arm.

Professor Marseielle, the Beaxbatons head teacher strode past me, walking out of a room. Her quick stride and high heeled boots retreated down the corridor. She hadn't even noticed I was there. I frowned. Typical.

Hushed voices made me pause. A soft feminine voice sounded as if she were consoling someone. Ever the busybody, I listened, just for a moment.

"Nagani, my sweet, of course it's unsettling for the both of us. Your master in the form of your dinner. I apologise if I'm just making you hungry again, but you cannot afford to feast just yet. By tonight, okay darling? With Marseielle's information, perhaps even sooner. Aren't you a good girl for being so patient? You can have your pick of the litter- I'd recommend the Mudbloods."

I stood rigidly at the doorway, trapped as the fear once again sunk in. Something wasn't right, the voice too cavalier, yet too formal for a Hogwarts student. And Nagani? What kind of a name was that? The slur for muggleborns too? What in Merlin's name was going on in there?

Footsteps, loud and important, began getting closer. Not from the same direction as the room with the soft-voiced girl, but from behind me, the hall I'd just been sauntering down.

I threw a panicked look around, the walls pressing closer to me. I was trapped. The footsteps were getting closer, and the silence that had fallen upon the girl almost felt expectant, even excited.

I fell backward, the smooth cold wall turning into a doorway.
I need to hear. My thoughts ran wild as the room I was in shimmered and slipped into shape. It was like a window into the rooms next to it, but they couldn't see me.
I breathed out heavily. The room of requirement. The window to the next room glinted, as if begging me to look into it.

I peeked into the room next to me. Bonnie. And... a snake? What in Merlin's name was going on?

Loud clattering kept getting closer, a man finally walking into the room with Bonnie. She leapt up, eyes suddenly teary, voice pained. A shiver went down my back.

"Mister! Mister! Please, I need your help!" Bonnie whined. The snake had disappeared, and the tall man in Ministry robes gasped.

"What's wrong, girl?" He bent over her, concerned.
Something was wrong. Bonnie's hand twitched ever so slightly as the man's eyes scanned over her, checking for injury.

Something was wrong. Something was wrong. I watched, as if in slow motion, as Bonnie's slender fingers tightened around her wand. She whipped it out like a dagger, pointed directly at the man.

"Imperio." Her voice was high and cold. My skin turned icy. Maybe I was dreaming. Maybe I was going crazy. That voice... although it was coming from Bonnie's mouth, I couldn't help but feel I'd heard it before.

Heard it mere hours before.

I stood there, rooted to the spot, watching in fear whilst Lord Voldemort, in Bonnie's tiny body, grinned maliciously at the sight of the Ministry official turning into his slave.

"You will ensure that Potter, myself and Draco Malfoy shall be alone together in the task. No help will be administered by any Hogwarts teacher or pupil. You will give me freedom. Do you understand me?"

The ministry official nodded dully, entranced by the voice of its master. The imperius curse was evil, it's earning under the title as an unforgivable curse never being clearer to me than at this moment.

Bonnie giggled, the sound that was meant to be girlish and cute making me tremble with fear.

Where was the real Bonnie? Because that creature who wore her face was the purest evil there could be. Pain came in a sharp flash as I realised she would have been face to face with Lord Voldemort. He wasn't known for keeping people, even innocent young girls, alive.

I closed my eyes.

He had done it. Lord Voldemort had infiltrated Hogwarts. Today, the task would commence, and I would be alone with the Dark Lord and Harry Potter.  I would be forced to play for the team I hoped desperately wouldn't win. I would be forced to kill Harry Potter.

And I knew it was doomed.