Canon Secrets (A Dramione Story)

Deathly Hallows1 Pt. 4: Agony

Draco Pov

The house had been eerily quiet for days even though more people were living in it than normal. Draco's footsteps echoed through the empty halls as he walked along them; no destination in mind. He was just waiting for the next bad thing to happen, as the screams that usually accompanied the tortures and deaths were suspiciously absent. He ran his finger over the dusty tops of the portraits lining the dark walls and focused his thoughts on the dirt staining the pad of his finger; not on the actions surrounding him.

His footsteps were suddenly drowned out by a scream; not of pain, but of happiness. "DRACO!" His aunt was evidently back and needed him. He turned around and headed for the drawing-room where he knew she was waiting. As he entered the room, he was greeted by the sight of Bellatrix standing next to Scabior holding a very bloated boy by the collar. His parents were standing against the far wall; his father with a look of great triumph and his mother with one of fear. At last, his eyes landed on Greyback who was standing a little behind Scabior. He was holding two people in a chokehold and they were obviously not who Draco was supposed to focus on. As he drew nearer, his eyes were inadvertently drawn back in that direction and with a start, he realized that he recognized both of the people.

The red-headed one was obviously Ronald Weasley and the woman with beautiful brown curls cascading down her back was undoubtedly Hermione Granger. His heart wrenched with fear and he suddenly found it difficult to draw breath. His aunt gave a fake little cough, obviously with the intent of drawing his attention back to her, but Draco found that he couldn't look away from Hermione. Her brown eyes were staring intently into his grey ones and her face was mournful. Whether she was mourning him or something else he didn't know, but he did know that he would never find anyone better than her. Under such horrible circumstances, the sight of her in his home awakened anger and hate at himself that he hadn't felt since before he met Hermione.

He finally looked back at his aunt who rolled her eyes. She wrenched the bloated boy out of Scabior's hold and held him by his hair. "Well?" she asked breathlessly. Even though Draco hadn't been told what he was supposed to do, he could guess that because of the boy's companions and his round glasses, Bellatrix thought he was Harry Potter and she was probably correct.

He made a split-second decision and said, "I can't be sure." He lied because if he confirmed their suspicions, the Dark Lord would probably be called and would not spare Hermione.

A hand gripped his neck and his father spoke into his ear, "Look closely! If we were the ones to hand Potter to the Dark Lord, everything would be forgiven...all would be as it was; understand?"

"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy," Scabior said menacingly.

His father's face turned stormy within seconds and he raised his voice. "How dare you talk to me like that in my own house?!"

"Lucius!" Draco's mother reprimanded before grabbing Draco's father and dragging him away from Draco.

"Don't be shy, sweetie! Come over," his aunt said from the floor, grabbing his hand and pulling him closer. "Now, if this isn't who we think it is, and we call him, he'll kill us all. We need to be absolutely sure."

"What's wrong with his face?" Draco asked, trying to deflect the conversation for a while longer as he thought of an acceptable answer.

"Yes, what is wrong with his face?" she asked, repeating his question toward Scabior.