Slytherin Royalty (Draco Malfoy)

ii) 'You have a task'

We enter Borgin and Burkes to find every Death Eater outside of Azkaban seated around the table. Bellatrix quickly takes her place and after hesitating for a second, Narcissa and I sit down too.

Draco looks at me with a terrified expression as I make a discreet hand gesture for him to calm down. It doesn't exactly work.

'Draco, I am still with you.' I say. This makes him calm down slightly.

'Please keep talking to me.' Draco says. He sounds almost desperate. He is the only one standing in the entire room.

Voldemort announces that Draco will be an official Death Eater and a lot of other things but I keep most of my attention on Draco and keep reassuring him.

Finally Voldemort steps towards Draco. "Hold out your hand." He orders.

Draco holds out his left hand and Voldemort does the same things he did with me. I notice Draco flinch slightly when Voldemort's fingers touch his arm.

We can talk no more without informing Voldemort that we are having a conversation. I notice Narcissa grip her chair tightly as Voldemort begins the process.

My throat goes dry as I see the pain clearly etched on Draco's face. I keep eye contact with him, not blinking at all. If this is what gives him strength then so be it.

When Voldemort lets go of his hand, Draco steps to the only empty seat with shaky steps. He sits down between Narcissa and me. I immediately reach over and take his left hand. I rub a finger on the spot for the rest of the meeting.

Draco Malfoy

The only things that got me through the pain are the ring around my neck and my eye contact with Fiona. I don't remove my eyes trying to lose myself in them.

When the Dark Lord finally steps away, it seems like I will fall over from the pain. But I force myself to walk forward and sit down between Mother and Fiona.

Fiona reaches over and starts rubbing a finger on the spot helping the pain. I realise that when Fiona got her Mark no one was there to comfort. She had pushed me away and Father isn't the kind to comfort anyone. I doubt Mother knew anything until later.

And yet here I am sitting, being comforted by Fiona when she herself had no one to comfort her. It makes me more guilty knowing that she is giving me more than she herself received.

I don't bother listening to the meeting knowing that Fiona isn't listening either. If anything important happens, I will know.

Finally the Dark Lord dismisses us. "Draco, Fiona, stay behind." He orders.

We had stood up but sit back down. Whatever He has to say won't be good. After everyone has left, He turns to us. I can feel Fiona become tense beside me.

"You have a task." He begins in a cheerful voice which sounds anything but cheerful. "Draco, you are to find a way for Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts and you have to kill Dumbledore."

I don't know what to say to that. I don't know how to respond. He wants me to kill somebody. And not just somebody, the greatest wizard of our time.