Left Behind (A Dramione Romance)

The Bedpost

Within minutes there was a small pile of wood shavings at her feet.

You can do this, she told herself.

You won't be the damsel in distress or the hostage.

You're going to break free and go solo and keep your friends safe.

Hermione smiled to herself. With a renewed sense of determination and strength she set to work.

_

Evening came and Draco sat at the long table in between his parents.

Everyone was dressed as if they were having a formal dinner. Draco's pale blue shirt was crisp and magically starched so that there was not a single wrinkle in sight. His hair was slicked back, something he hadn't done in ages, but some how felt appropriate for dealing with what was to come. The gnawing that had started in his stomach earlier that morning would not leave him alone. A niggling part of Draco wanted to just go up to his room and check to see if Granger was okay. The feeling wasn't strong enough that he felt he HAD to act, not like when she was being attacked by Greyback, so he wrote it off as nerves.

Draco looked across the table to where, Snape took his seat and felt a distinct wariness as his headmasters dark gaze examined him subtly from the other side of the table. The scrutinous attention made Draco want to shift in his seat.

Bellatrix sat next to Snape chatting at another death eater while awaiting their guest of honor.

As per usual Voldemort was the last of the guests to arrive, which was good because if anyone made the mistake of being late and arriving after the Dark Lord...things tended to end badly for them.

Voldemort appeared in a whirl of black, slowly becoming corporeal as he and strode barefoot across the stone. Nagini his great snake was at his side and as he neared the table she rose up and and slithered her way across the the surface. Draco tried not to flinch back when she swung her head towards him and flicked her tongue out tasting the air.

"Why is it?" The dark Lord asked stalking around the table. "That no one..." he paused. "Seems to be able to locate Harry Potter for me?"

Silence answered him.

"YOU ARE FAILING ME!" he yelled and everyone at the table flinched.

You don't seem to be able to do it yourself Mr. All-powerful, Draco's brain started mouthing back and he clamped down on the stream of thought before Voldemort could sense the dissension in him.

The Dark lord calmed himself and sat down at the head of the table. He closed his eyes and when he opened them he was noticeably more calm.

"Severus, give me a report on Hogwarts," he said almost apathetically.

"There has been no unusual activity," Snape drawled. "The other Death eaters who are there have the students very much...occupied with activities."

"I hope that the children are learning their lessons both in and out of the classroom," The Dark Lord said sitting back in his chair. "Children are our future," he added and stroked Nagini affectionately. "We need to protect the minds of our young pureblood witches and wizards and dissuade those who live under the misconception that Mudbloods and half breeds are to be accepted and taken into the fold. Muggles have their place to be sure, but it is not as partners to our kind."

A mummer of agreement rippled through the room.

For the first time in his life Draco felt disgust at the sentiment.

True for the last several years it had made him feel more and more uneasy as he had grown to respect Granger, but this was the first time where he felt truly unsettled and repulsed by his family and the deatheater ideology.