The Lost Malfoy

Chapter seven: waiting

Draco had sat in the same spot for 9 hours, his backside was numb, and he was tired enough to crash exactly where he was, but had resisted the impulse. His eyes had long since adjusted to the darkness in the windowless room, and he had kept the disillusionment charm on his person, and let himself become slightly distracted by his thoughts. Stunpike obviously had a second location, as his sister wasn't here. And there was no guarantee that Stunpike hadn't already killed her. Draco hated the dark area of his thoughts that knew he'd kill Stunpike for hurting his sister. And he wondered if Harry would understand that. Probably not, Harry was all that was good and pure in the world, just by being himself. He was kind and gentle, even when the world wasn't kind to him. Draco was fully aware that Harry deserved someone better than him.

Their relationship had come from nowhere. A friendship bloomed from the mutual worry from Asteria's loss. Than late nights sneaking around after the fight on the Quidditch pitch, planning for the DA and complaining about Umbridge had drawn them even closer, and Draco had discovered his attraction to the dark-haired wizard, fully prepared to die with that secret until Harry had kissed him out of the blue, in a darkened corridor outside the Gryffindor Common room. Things had progressed quite naturally from there. When he wasn't in detention, studying with his friends, or the DA, he made time to go to the kitchen's with Draco a snack/desert date, and they spoke of all things; things that made them happy or sad, angry or envious, and the things they missed. It had been simple and different than anything Draco could imagine. His various relationships among his Slytherin cohorts had been about satisfying his father's ideas of how a Malfoy should behave. Random trists and lustful encounters had meant nothing to Draco in the long run, but what he had with Harry was real, and everything about the relationship always felt new and fresh, because it was his choice, his wants, his needs that led him to Harry.

'SLAM.' The noise had ripped through the empty room with a blinding flash, and Draco had to swallow his shout of surprise, blinking his eyes to get rid of the stars behind his eyelids. Once his eyes readjusted he focused on the movement in the room, but realized his mistake, he didn't know much about Shunpike's appearance to be able to see it in the dark. He knew the face, but that was just passing, having seen it on the Prophet, more realization dawned as he realized how admittedly Harry had defended the man, which caused more rage to bubble up in Draco. He sucked back his rage and raised his wand, but paused as the figure fell face first into the large bed, and quickly began snoring.

Well, that was simple. Draco bemused to himself, as he cautiously stood, his knees popping slightly as he straightened them out. He winced at the noise, hoping the sound didn't wake the sleeping figure. Draco inched closer, his mind reeling, as he took in the face. It wasn't Stunpike, but Antonin Dolohov. Something dark pulled into the pit of Draco's stomach. It was supposed to be Stunpike in the bed, not the idiot Dolohov. The older wizard must have gotten out of Azkaban again, which likely meant that his father had as well. Hiding out away from the world had stunted his ability to gather other information. Draco let his mind turn over the thought that it was likely that Lucius would torture Asteria, especially to regain Voldemort's favor. Draco rolled his shoulders, casting a full Body-Bind on the prime figure, and shook him awake. The beady eyes snapped open, focusing on Draco.

"Who are you?" The Russian lit of his voice wasn't lost on Draco.

"I'm Draco Malfoy, and I need to find Stan Stunpike," Draco responded with a sneer.

"Don't know what you are talking about, boy," Dolohov replied. 

"You can try and lie to me, and I can try and weed out what is true or not," Draco began raising his wand and pointing it at his head, "or I could just do this, Legimens." Casting the spell, Draco was thrown into his mind and found he wasn't prepared for the onslaught of memories. His sister had prepared him for how consuming the spell could be, but he had only tried it on her, who could restrict the number of things he'd see. Dolohov's thoughts were tinged with darkness from his time in Azkaban, and Draco could feel the chill from the monsters. Forcing his own spine to straighten, he began pilfering the memories, finding one from a muggle cafe, of Granger, Weasley, and Potter, though it was blurry, almost unclear like it had been obligated, and someone had returned them. He learned the Voldemort's name was literally taboo, if a person said it, they could be found. He learned his father was out and looking like a shell of a man, and his mother was still alive. He found that Stunpike was dead, thanks to a stunning spell that hit him from one of the Order during the airborne fight that took place in July. He found something else, what he really needed, Rowle had taken over the information gathering from his sister, and Dolohov was supposed to remain guard.