The Green Man and the Goddess

My mother was waiting for me at Platform 9 and 3/4. She stood there, shoulders back, perfectly straight as the butler came up to me and took my luggage from my hands. She flashed me a disaproving look when I protested.

"Have you not learned anything? she snapped. "You are a Malfoy, you do not carry your own luggage. That is what servants and house elves are for."

I knew better to reply to her. Anything I said would be wrong.

Narcissa motioned for the butler to follow before turning around and leaving the train station. I stood there for a moment though, taking one last look at Ginny who was smiling at her mother and brothers. She turned to me and smiled at me as well, before turning back to her family. Just as I turned to leave something else caught my eye.

Harry Potter.

He was standing off the side, his hands placed on top of his luggage, just glaring at Ron and Hermione before turning his gaze to Ginny and glaring at her. He did not look very happy. Then he turned his attention to his carry-on bag and unzipped the zipper, taking out a book. I was close enough to read the title, How to Uncover Lost Memories. I was pretty sure it was from the Restricted Section... dark magic.

I was ready to go over to him and take the books out of his egotistic hands when the butler returned, telling me that my mother said I was to come with him immediately since my mother would not wait.

I glared at the butler but followed him wordlessly out of the train station. My mother was waiting for me in a muggle car. It was black and sleak, very classy. The kind of car my mother would like to be seen in. On the back bumper was writen Rolls Royce.

I opened the door to the car and sat down next to my mother on the grey leather seats. They were hot since it was a very sunny day and the leather burned my skin when it came in contact with it. My mother showed no emotion. But then again she never had since I had gone to Hogwarts. I think I was a failure to her since Granger always beat me at school and she was a Mudblood.

"Your father and I are very disapointed in you," she told me, her voice cold as the winds that circle the Arctic, "yet again that Mudblood has beaten you in all your classes. Do you have no pride Draco?"

Yet again I opted for silence. All I had to do was ignore her and maybe that would be the end of it.

After a while it worked. She finally got tired of complaining and berating her own son and was quiet until we reached the Manor.

As usual the Manor look lonely and dismal. The hedges were neatly trimmed and the green had been mowed so that it was all straight. I thought back to Hogwarts which had uneven grass and bushes instead of hedges that had never seen a trimming and I sighed. I wished I was back at Hogwarts, sitting and talking with Ginny by a nice warm fire. There were no fires in Malfoy Manor. For once in my life I couldn't wait to get back to school and I realised it would be a long summer.

My mother was getting out of the car when my father came down the greet us. He wore somber black robes and his hair was gelled back like I used to gel my hair.

I slowly got out of the car, feeling my father's eyes on me. He was taking in my grey robes which were no longer solid black and my long blond hair which was no longer held back with gel. He sneered at me with a disaproving look before motioning someone who standing in the shadows of the door to come foward.

"'This is Jade Grolloni, Draco," my father told me. "We have decided it was time you were betrothed, and Miss Grolloni's parents and your mother and I have decided that you two would make the perfect match."

I stood totally shocked for a minute, until I was able to find my voice. "Since when?" I asked rebeliously.

"Since a week ago when her father and I made plans."

"You can't do this to me!" I cried, glaring at the girl just behind my father. "I won't marry her... ever."

"You will," my father yelled back, taking a step foward and grabbing my arm. He pulled me close to him. I was an inch or two shorter than him now and I still growing. His whispered in my ear, "You will marry her and stop fooling around with that Weasley tramp. I do not want you anywhere near that girl next year."

I glared at him, my eyes showed the hatred that I said but wasn't ready to express to my father.

"Now Draco, why don't you show Jade around the Manor?" My father told me, it wasn't a request. "Be back before four, for it's tea time." My mother added before Jade clamped her arm around mine and dragged me off with her.

"You will not be cheating on me with some muggle-loving slut when we are married, Draco," Jade spoke for the first time. Her voice was icy, filled with dislike and distain.

I glared at her. "We won't be getting married period, so you won't have to worry about it."

She laughed. It was a terrible sound. Like the shriek of bells that were to high pitched. "Think whatever you want, but it doesn't make it true. We will be married and next year you will stay away from the Weasley... what's her name? Vicky... Veronica... I don't really care."

"Her name is Virginia," I growled at her, "and if you show one ounce of disrespect, I will hit you so hard, you won't even remember your own name, let alone her's."

Jade just laughed her deafening laugh and attempted to stear me through the gardens. There was nothing else I could do but follow behind her and hope she wasn't there the whole summer. Finally she pulled me into an oval circle along the path with a fountain in the middle. She sat down on the edge of the fountain and brushed strands of blond hair out of her face. She looked around her, looking for something to talk about, her eyes settling on my school robes, with the Slytherin crest on them.

"So what is Hogwarts like?" she pured. "Do they really let mudbloods in?"

I glared at her, "Why do you care?"

"Haven't you guessed?" she laughed again. "Father is sending me there next year so I can get to know you!"

I looked at her with horror and then I decided I had had enough. I turned around and stalked down the path towards the Manor, my robes trailing behind me. I quickly looked back when I got close to the house. I could see Jade still sitting there, staring at the ground. Good, I thought, she wasn't following me.

I had to sneak into the house through the kitchens to get to my room without being caught by either of my parents although I was pretty sure that my father was probably in his study, researching dark magic and my mother was probably drinking in the parlor as usual. In the last few years she had started drinking more and more regularly. She could no longer stand Lucius... but neither could I.

I finally made it to the safety of my room and locked the door. It was a good lock. You couldn't get it open with a simple alohamora, so my father would have trouble getting in if he discovered I had ditched that bitch Jade. Like hell I would marry her.

I quickly crossed the room to where my bed was and started digging in the bedside table. I found some parchment and a quill and began to write.

Dearest Ginny,

It seems Father is not very happy with me. He found out about us and he's mad. Don't worry about yourself for the moment. He just tells me to stay away from you- which I would never do- but he's also arranged a marriage with some pureblood family. The girl's name is Jade Grolloni and guess what... she's going to Hogwarts next year.

Anyways, both my parents are pissed off because Granger beat me with all my grades this year, so I guess it's punishment for that as well. Father knows I'm furious with the whole thing but he's never done anything for me, that I wanted, so why would he start now?

Please write me back as soon as possible. I really miss you and it's only been a few hours. Summer will be torture. We should go back to school shopping together. We'll set a date and everything.

Oh, just wondering but is Potter coming to stay with you over the summer? If he is, make sure he stays away from you. He knows that his mind was wiped and he's trying to figure out what it was. I saw that he was reading a book about recovering memories at the train station.

Anyways, I really need to go before Father realises I ditched the bitch.
Love always, Draco Malfoy.

After that I went to the cage that was placed against the wall of my bedroom and took out Loki, my eagle owl. He was one of the few things that I had loved before Ginny other than a pet snake that I had had for about four hours before it got away.

I quickly attached the letter to Loki's leg, stroking his soft feathers and whispered, "take this to Virginia Weasley." And then I let him out the window, and watched as Loki got smaller and smaller into the distance on his way to Ginny. I wished I was Loki then. I wished I could be on my way to Ginny's and not here instead, but of course that wish didn't come true.

Jade came in about an hour later and spilled the news that I had abandoned her in the garden. Father was very mad at me, and at supper and wouldn't look at me directly. I knew he wanted to punish me but he didn't want to with Jade sitting beside me.

As for Jade, she was now running her hand up and down my inner thigh. I think she might have tried it before but she knew I would have hit her or worse, but I wasn't about to do it with my parents sitting there. So I sat there simmering, trying to push her hand off my thigh as she roamed higher and higher... finally her hand got to high, and I grabbed her wrist to stop her. I didn't say anything, just kept our hands under the table, tightening my hand as tightly as possible so that her hand started to turn red. Jade gave a little squeal in pain and dropped her hand. Across the table my father was looking at me, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. My mother didn't notice. She was too drunk, almost falling into her supper plate.

"What are you doing to her, Draco?" my father asked.

I raised my eyes from where they had been fixated on my supper and replied, "I was just holding my fiancee's hand. Is there something wrong with that... Lucius?"

I could tell he was getting mad. I had never spoken back to him so boldly before. He could tell that I was no longer scared of him.

"Don't talk back to me boy," he snarled.

I just laughed at him and his pale skin started to turn red. My mother looked up from her plate, which was about four inches from her nose, she had been smelling it for some odd reason, and started to laugh. "You've raised quite a boy, Lucius," she said, mockingly, "can't even get him to obey you."

Lucius glared at both of us and drew his wand out of his robes. Beside me, I could hear Jade laugh at the start of a fight.

I too, drew my wand and pointed it at my father.

"That Weasley girl has been a terrible influence on you. She's nothing but mud under your shoe. Haven't I taught you anything. She wasn't worth your time."

I glared at him, about to cast a spell at him but he beat me too it. "Crucio!" he shouted and I fell to the ground in terrible pain. All I could hear was Jade's terrible laughter as I rolled around, helpless on the ground. I felt like I was on fire. Every part of me burned and I could almost feel the tears start to drip down my face. I made a concious effort to keep them in check though. I didn't want any of these people to see me cry.

"You see Draco," my father said, "I always know what's best. Now get off the ground. You will be initiated into the Deatheaters tonight."

"What if Dumbledore sees my arm?" I asked in horror. "It would give away everything."

Lucius just laughed. "You should have thought about that before you started fooling around with that Weasley tramp."

I gulped and pulled myself to my feet, now totally still and controlable. My Father brushed off his robes and motioned me to follow him out of the room. We were soon outside and a servant was handing me a heavy, black robe, which I pulled over top of the one I was already wearing. Then I was being handed a broomstick and taking off into the air behind my father.

I was frozen inside. I vaguely thought that my father was controlling me with some curse but I knew somewhere deep down that he wasn't. I had no other choice than to get the Dark Mark and join Voldemort's ranks. Then maybe I would be able to spy on him for Dumbledore... and for Ginny.

We flew over Sherwood for probably an hour before we landed in a dark clearing on the outskirts of the forest. The trees here were sparse and spaced widely apart. My Father handed me a mask, which I placed over my face and then led me towards a group of men, dressed just like us in black robes and masks. In the middle was one of the tallest men I had ever seen. He wore no mask and his face was terribly mishapen and old. His hands were clawed with old age and another man had to help him walk.

Lord Voldemort turned to me and smiled his sinister smile.

"Well Lucius, your boy finally joins our ranks. I hope he is smarter than you."

My father looked up at Voldemort and said, "Yes, my Lord. My son is very smart. Second highest in his class." Of course he forgot to mention that Granger was top but I decided it would be better if Voldemort didn't know that a mudblood did better than me.

"Good, good," Voldemort hissed, "and he will be marrying Grolloni's girl at this time next year?"

"Yes, my Lord," Lucius replied.

"Good, good. Come here boy." And I had no choice but to obey.

He reached his clawed hand and rolled up my sleeve. "Be honored boy. Not many are invited to join at this young of an age."

I was not honoured but I couldn't say that to Lord Voldemort of course. He would kill me then and there.

The man lowered his wand to the smooth skin on my forearm and whispered a spell that I couldn't hear and pain shot out in my arm. It was much like the pain I had felt when my father had used Crucio on me, but this time it was only in my arm.

I gritted my teeth, so as not to yell or scream in pain and I bit so hard that blood soon flowed down from my mouth. But then it was over. The pain was gone and all that was left was a reminder of it... the Dark Mark. I stared at it with horror for a few seconds before remembering my place and bowing down before Voldemort.

"Thank you Master," I whispered.