Mistaken Love

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'Hogwarts was gleaming with sunlight as the clouds parted after a rain storm. Students wandered the grounds of Hogwarts on an early Saturday afternoon. A group of chattering Slytherins passed a girl, who was in her sixth year, sitting alone with a book across her lap near a small spout of a Whomping Willow. She wore a dirty, black colored robe with an old Hogwarts crest on the right side of her chest. Her long, jet black hair covered most of her face and hid her away from other people. They turned their heads toward her and whispered something to each other. Laughter sprung out of the group and they continued walking away.

Alecto watched the backs of the Slytherins disappear behind the great oak doors of the castle. A tear slowly formed and she wiped it with the sleeve of her robe. She stood up and walked toward the large stadium that was a few yards away from her. She entered the Quidditch field, hoping to be alone. Once she found herself in the middle of the field she heard a boy's voice speak from above her.

"Hey, James! Who's that girl that just walked onto the field?"

Alecto searched the sky and saw a handsome boy riding a broom with a Quaffle in his hand. She glanced over to the end of the field and saw James Potter with his messy hair and round glasses.

"I don't know Sirius, but she is kind of hot!" James yelled across the field.

Sirius sped toward James and did a stunt by diving toward the ground and pulling back up smoothly with a charming smile on his face. Alecto saw him stare at her to see her reaction; obviously checking if his showing off impressed her. She gave him a disgusted look and turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Sirius cried.

"Forget it, Padfoot! She's mine!" James motioned his broom toward Alecto and gathered speed.

"Hey! I saw her first!" Sirius claimed. "You have Lily, remember?"

"We aren't officially together," James replied, "there's still plenty of James to go around."

Sirius laughed and chased after James.

Alecto saw James land on the ground followed by Sirius. She knew who they were and knew if they got close enough they wouldn't want anything to do with her. Breaking into a run, she passed the doors that led into Hogwarts and made her way into the Forbidden Forest. Alecto hid herself behind a tree and sat on the ground with her legs to her chest, making herself small.

After ten minutes she peeked out from the tree and saw that James and Sirius went back into Hogwarts and forgot all about her. She tied her hair into a messy ponytail and wiped the sweat from her face. Still tired from running, she sprawled her long, skinny legs out and messaged the cramps out of them.

A couple of minutes passed and she felt that someone was watching her. As she lifted her head, she saw a tall boy about her age emerge from trees just a few yards away from her. He had stiff shoulders and muscular arms that swung by his hips as he walked toward her. His face wore a stern look and his blond hair came down passed his shoulders.

"Alecto Carrow?" the boy asked.

Alecto stood up, "Who's asking?"

The boy stopped in front of an opening that was a path back to Hogwarts. He gazed into her eyes with an expressionless stare.

"You're brother is in trouble."

"My brother, Amycus? He is foolish for everything he does. I do not care about him."

"He is dying," the boy said flatly.

Alecto stared at the boy in silence. She did not know if it was true or just a lame joke that he and his friends made up to have a laugh at.

"Where is he?" she demanded.

"I'll take you to him," the boy replied.

Alecto did not move.

"I know you do not trust me, but right now your brother needs you. If you do not wish to come then do not follow me." The boy turned and walked through the opening.

Alecto thought for second, 'If he was telling the truth and Amycus does need me, I have to follow him, but if he is lying I can handle the humiliation anyway. Amycus is my brother...'She paced slowly after him and kept her distance.

The boy glanced behind him and Alecto caught his stare. She pulled the hair tie out of her ponytail and allowed her hair to cover her face once again.

"You look prettier with you hair up and out of your face," the boy said with his gaze still on Alecto.

"Why do you care?" Alecto snapped. "I mean, you don't even know me and I don't know you."

The boy came to a halt and turned around. "My name is Lucius Malfoy and I care because I like you."

Alecto awoke from her dream with the image of Lucius still in her mind. She lifted her head from the table she slept at to regain her strength back from the long journey she took. As she stretched out her back that ached from the position she slept in, she rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. Her eye sight was blurred for a few minutes as she brought her hands down to her side. Once she was able to see clearly, she stood up and glanced around the room.

A fireplace was at the right of her, unlit, with a pile of ashes waiting to be cleaned. Following her glance was a window half open, allowing the air and the moonlight to come in. Alecto took a few steps toward the window and gazed out. She saw that she was in a room many stories high from the ground and mostly likely from the dungeons where Snape was.

Alecto knew that Snape was angry with her for interrupting a conversation between him and the Dark Lord. She still felt the bruise on her right arm left my Snape dragging her into this room, his room. Never meaning to disturb them, she had vital information that Snape needed to know. Although Snape never took Alecto seriously, she was still determined to tell him.

She ran her hand up and down her right arm, feeling the bruise that was there. A tear fell from her eye and she wiped it away quickly, not wanting to bring back the other bad memories she and her husband had. Her heart ached as she pushed the memories and the pain away. She knew that her false love for Snape wasn't going to hold much longer.

Minutes passed and she turned her attention back to the room. Alecto retraced her steps back to the table and the bookshelf that was behind it. She scanned the shelf and the many books that were placed there in alphabetical order. Her hands ran across each book until she found one that interested her. Pulling the book into her hands, she brought it over to the table and flipped it open. She continued flipping through the pages until she found what she was look for.

Leaving the book on the table, she walked over a cabinet that was marked 'ingredients.' Alecto rummaged through the cabinet taking a bottle from the top shelf, then the middle and then the bottom shelf. She left the cabinet and returned back to the table and took out her wand. With a swift movement with her wand and an incantation spoken from under her breath, a cauldron appeared. She ran her finger down the page of the book that was still open on the table and started added ingredients into the cauldron.

A half an hour later, the cauldron contained a pink solution that was still steaming with sparks sprinkling into the air. Alecto opened a drawer from under the table and took out a small vile and began to fill it with the potion. Finally screwing the cap on, she turned to the cauldron and made it disappear. She placed the vile on the table and cleaned the rest of the ingredients she didn't use.

As she placed the bottles back in to the cabinet the room door swung open, causing her to drop the last bottle she held in her hand.

"I expect that you will be cleaning that up?" Snape walked through the door and gave a disdainful look toward his wife. "Is the potion done?"

Alecto turned her head toward the table and nodded at the vile that was now colored pink from the potion that filled it.

"Good," he picked the vile up and slid it into his pocket. "I'll be back and make sure you don't leave here, the Dark Lord doesn't want anyone ruining the plan." With another dispassionate look at Alecto, he left.

Alecto slowly cleaned up the mess from the bottle she dropped. She then walked over to the book and closed it. The title, Love Potions, gleamed in scarlet red letters that stretched across the book. After lifting the book back onto the shelf, she turned and picked up her traveling cloak from the chair. Wrapping herself with her cloak, she opened the room door and looked back at the room that was considered to be her cage. With hesitation, she walked out and closed the door behind her.

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Draco opened his grey eyes and the moonlight reflected off them. After taking a deep breath and exhaling, he allowed his eyes to wander around. Trees were everywhere and the ground was soft with wet soil and dirt. He looked above him and into the sky. The dark grey clouds were slowly parting after soaking everything with its rain drops. A few seconds passed and Draco turned his attention toward a bright yellow light coming from the East. There stood Hogwarts with a light shining off the Astronomy Tower.

He wished that he was there, in his dormitory, sound asleep, and having no care in the world. He wished he was there, waiting for the next day to take the train back to the Manor, where it was only him and his mother with his father still imprisoned at Azkaban. He wished that he had never been given any orders from Voldemort or forced to become a Death Eater. All Draco wanted was to be a normal and not have a whole future planned out for him. Although he wished for all this, you don't always get what you want.

Continuing to stare at Hogwarts, he felt the wind seep through the leaves of the trees and penetrate his blonde hair. He turned away from the school and realized that he would never be able to go back or show his face inside the castle ever again. After acknowledging the fact that Hogwarts was to the East of him, he figured he was in the Forbidden Forest. He then had to decide where he was going to go.

Draco knew he was far from the Manor and from his father, and he was completely happy of that. Hogwarts was off the list of places to go and home was as well. The only place left was to stay in the forest and wander. He knew where he was and the ways out of the forest, but before he was able to determine where to go, Draco felt something inside his conscience pull him Westward. He followed his instinct and it led him toward an opening with many trees surrounding it. The opening seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't quiet put his finger on it.

Just then he heard voices and he listened to them, hoping it was someone he knew.

"I'm fine!" a girl cried.

"I could just carry her back against her will..." another voice spoke that belonged to a boy.

"Ron, she can take you," a girl said, different from the first.

Draco couldn't believe how unlucky he was. It was Ron's voice. 'This is not good... Where there is Weasley, there's Granger and Potter close by.' He knew who the voices belonged to, but they weren't people he wanted to see at the moment. Still visible from standing in the middle of the opening, Draco turned to leave a different way, but something stopped him. That same pull inside of him forced him to stay.

He heard them approaching closer and finally, he was able to see them. Ginny was in front of the group and Hermione and Ron were behind her; no Harry in sight. Draco stared at the three and Ginny caught his stare. They stood there looking at each other for awhile until Ginny was shoved aside by Ron.

"I'll rip him apart with my bare hands! Just let me at him!" Ron was closing in on Draco, but Draco did not move an inch.

"Ron! Stop! You're not a murderer!" Hermione cried desperately, putting herself between Ron and Draco.

'Hermione Granger, a Mudblood, is defending me? Something is very wrong,' Draco thought, still standing in the same place.

"Do you know who he is, Hermione? He's responsible for Dumbledore's death! He's a Death Eater for god sakes!" Ron shouted in reply.

"Actually Weasley, I don't have the mark on my left arm, therefore I'm not a Death Eater. You should really brush up on your History." Draco spoke for the first time and was shocked to hear his own voice.

Ron glared over at him, "Oh, so just because you aren't a Death Eater you're not responsible for killing Dumbledore?"

Draco stayed silent. He knew that no words would change what he has done. Dumbledore offered to help him escape from a life he wished he never had gotten involved with, but Draco couldn't just back out, he had to follow orders or he would be killed. After Dumbledore was murdered by Snape, everything that happened was a blur to Draco. He could barely remember how he ended up back in his room. The next thing he knew was his father bursting into his room and dragging him in front of a group of Death Eaters.

Who was he to think that Ron or Hermione or Ginny to understand why he did what he did? Only one person knew, but that person was no where near, or so he thought. Draco decided that if Ron wasn't going to hit him anytime soon, he would just walk away, pretending he never saw them in the first place.

"No stupid remarks or excuses, Malfoy? You can't find anything to say to deny what you did? That's what I thought, you useless bastard." Ron raised his wand and leveled it to Draco's chest.

"Wait," this time it wasn't Hermione, but Ginny who protested. She walked up to Draco and looked into his grey, helpless eyes. "Why did you do it? Why did you have to kill him?"

Draco was shocked that out of everyone in the whole world, Ginny was the one who asked this question. He hesitated before answering, thinking if he should really tell the truth. "Because--"

"Are you serious, Ginny? He killed him because he felt like it," Ron exclaimed in anger.

"Ron, can't you just shut up. What are you going to do to him? Kill him? You would never kill anyone, Ron. I know you," Ginny retorted, awaiting an answer from Draco.

Ron opened his mouth to say a come back, but closed it, not able to think of one. He knew that Ginny was right.

"So, why did you?" Ginny asked again.

"He would have killed me," Draco replied simply with no ironic tone.

"That's just an excuse, and you know it, Malfoy," Ginny snapped.

Draco rolled his eyes, "I don't have to tell you why, so just kill me already. I would probably go to a better life then I'm in right now, no Weasleys or Mudbloods." He shot a disgusted look at the three of them.

"Your right, Hell is a much better place for you. See, Ginny, he even gives us permission," Ron said, already thinking of what spell to use.

"No, Ron. I want to know why." Ginny continued to stare at Draco.

"Look, I'm evil, I'm a bad guy, whatever reason I give, you're not going to believe me."

"Try us," Hermione pressed on.

Draco looked over at Ron and saw that he was eager to know his answer also. He sighed, "The original plan was not for me to kill Dumbledore, I was only supposed to raid Hogwarts and have Dumbledore weakened. I had no knowledge of how Dumbledore was hurt or that the Dark Lord ordered Snape to kill him. I was left out of the loop. If I was assigned to kill Dumbledore, I wouldn't have for reasons I'm not going to say."

"I didn't know you would sink so low that you would actually try to make us believe you are innocent." Ron was at his limits with his patients. He struck out his wand and darted forward to Draco, "Sectum--"

"Expelliarmus!"

Ron's wand flew out of his hand and landed a few feet away from him. He looked over at Draco and saw that he hadn't moved and his eyes narrowed toward his sister.

"I believe him," said Ginny, holding her wand which was directed at Ron.

Draco didn't understand what was going on. He was standing there, in front of them. He heard everything and saw everything, but he still couldn't understand. 'The git's little sister actually believes me... Now, I know I'm totally losing it.'

"You what?!" Ron's face was slowly turning red and Hermione swore she saw a little steam come out of his ears.

"I believe him," Ginny repeated.

"Ginny, I don't think--" Hermione began to state her opinion until Ginny cut her off.

"There's something about him, something that has changed. He didn't know about the plan and I believe that Voldemort had his reasons for not telling Malfoy, but I don't know why. You do though, don't you, Malfoy?"

Draco was stunned for a second and was ruminating how Ginny knew so much. He didn't want to answer her, but he did know why he was kept out of the entire plan. That pull inside him erupted again and was pushing his instincts to tell her. This time, he refused to give in.

"No, I don't know. I guess he didn't trust me," he responded imperatively.

"Who would?" Ron mumbled to himself.

Ginny was able to tell that Draco was lying at this time, but she did not force an answer from him. "You know the way around the forest; you're going to help us find Harry."

"I'm going to help you find Harry?" Draco asked hoarsely.

"Yes, he's somewhere in the forest and he's lost. You're going to help us find him." Ginny went over and picked up Ron's wand from the floor and returned it to him.

"Okay, now I have to draw the line somewhere. He is not going with us, Ginny. How can you trust him? How can you actually believe him?" Ron took his wand from Ginny and stuffed it into his back pocket, forgetting his grudge against Draco.

"I don't care anymore. I don't care that he is a liar, a bad guy, a git, a bastard or whatever you want to call him, Ron. He knows the forest. He uses it to communicate with Voldemort and for hiding. Malfoy doesn't have to tell me this because I know. Voldemort used me before, back in my second year. I awoke in the forest at times with no clue of how I got there. All I want to do is find Harry and if I have to use Malfoy then so be it." Ginny grabbed Malfoy by the arm and began to walk out of the opening.

Ron turned to Hermione, "A little help, please!"

"I don't know what you want me to do, Ron. She's right..." Hermione said with an 'I'm sorry' look on her face.

Ron sighed and took Hermione by the hand and followed Ginny and Draco.

"Don't I get any say in this?" Draco asked as he was dragged along by Ginny.

"No," Ginny, Hermione and Ron answered in unison.

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Harry entered the cave gingerly, gripping his wand tighter. Darkness fell over his eyes as he continued deeper into the cave. After he walked a few yards, he felt the ground steeping lower until he landed himself into, what seemed like, water. The water was only one or two feet high and it barely reached his knees. Uncertain that the water would go any deeper, Harry held out his wand.

"Lumos," his wand tip ignited with a soft, white light.

Harry lifted his wand higher to see his surrounding and where exactly he was. He was only able to see a few feet around him. The cave's top was made too high for him to actually see what was above, but he was able to look into the water. It was oddly colored black. Harry didn't believe his eyes; he saw his reflection clearly as if the water was like a mirror. As he examined his reflection a bright orange light appeared and caused the water to sparkle like glass. Harry glanced ahead of him; another opening was sitting on a platform four feet above the water where the light was shining from.

Slowly, he made his way across the pool of water, toward the light. He approached the platform and lifted himself up onto it. Once he was able to swing his legs over the edge, Harry laid on his back to catch his breath. 'Why am I here?' he asked himself. 'I should be at Hogwarts with Hermione and Ron... and with Ginny.' At the thought of Ginny's name, Harry felt his heart skip a beat. 'Ginny... How could I be so stupid? I just left, without telling anyone.' He let out a long sigh and allowed his back to rise from the ground.

Harry noticed that the light shown more brightly when he turned his head over to the opening. It was only a few yards away from him now and Harry was able to see the light flash. He immediately stood up and concentrated on the light as he grasped his wand. The light flickered again, allowing Harry to see a shadow of a person. He moved a little closer to the opening to capture another glimpse of the shadow. This time Harry was able to see it clearly. The shadow was short and plump, giving off a vaguely similar appearance to someone Harry knew. Being a shadow and all, he wasn't able to actually identify who it was.

He took a couple more steps closer and found himself standing at the opening. Harry felt his body being forced in like metal drawn to a magnet. When he was fully in, he was thrown against the wall by such force that he was unable to breath for a few second. Chains erupted from the wall and pinned his hands and legs against the rocky surface, causing him to drop his wand. Harry caught his breath and scanned his surroundings. A fire was lit in the middle of floor which caused the light he was following. Smoke was ejected from a cauldron that was hanging over the open fire and the scent of rotting eggs and garbage soaked the air. His eyes soon led him to a man standing at the far end of the cave who was holding a thick, green book in his left hand.

"It is nice to see you again, Mr. Potter. I have been expecting you," the man's voice was squeaky and unsteady. He placed the book on the floor and walked toward Harry. Stretching out his right hand, he picked up Harry's wand from the ground. A shimmer of light reflected off his hand. He finally stood up and Harry was able to see his right hand was solid silver.

"You," Harry said, leveling his eyes to the Death Eater in front of him.

"Me," Wormtail replied with a grin across his face.

"Who did you expect? The Dark Lord, himself?"

"Well, with his past records, I thought he would want to give off a more intimidating personality, but I was wrong. He decides to send his most pathetic follower to kill me."

Wormtail lifted his silver hand and clenched it in midair. Immediately, it felt as though Wormtail's hand was clenched around Harry's throat instead of thin air. He could hardly breathe from the pressure. He watched Wormtail lower his hand and the force around his neck stopped.

"Pathetic, am I? The Dark Lord gave me more power, stronger power. Do not underestimate me, Harry Potter, I can kill you at this very moment, but I am not going to. Although I am tempted, the Dark Lord did not order me to do so."

Wormtail turned away from Harry and faced the caldron. He whispered a few incantations to himself and did motions with his hands. The liquid inside the caldron turned to a puke green color then turned to black. He then conjured up a goblet and began to fill it with the liquid. Carefully, he raised the goblet in the air and presented it in front of Harry.

"So, he sent you here to have a tea party with me?" Harry asked wryly.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Worm tail recited.

Harry watched the goblet levitate from Wormtail's hand and hover level to his mouth. 'Does he seriously think I'm going to drink this at my own will?' Harry thought hurmorously. He felt his right hand unbind from the chain and fall to the side of his hip.

"Drink it," said Wormtail tonelessly.

Harry snorted. "I would rather cut off my own right hand. Since you did that already, how about you drink this," Harry motioned to the goblet, "and tell me which one feels better."

"Crucio!"

The torture spell hit Harry in the chest and a burst of pain shot through ever muscle in his body. He bit down on his lip to keep from screaming. There was no use, the pain was too much. Harry was able to hear his scream echo from the cave walls. His voice slowly faded from his last echo and he gazed upon Wormtail.

"Is that all you've got?"

"I do not have time for this! Drink it, NOW!" Wormtail roared.

'I'm never going to get out of here. Maybe I should just drink it. What's the worse that can happen? It can kill me. Well duh...' Harry closed his eyes and began to ruminate. He knew Wormtail was watching him carefully, but he didn't care. 'Bethany might come looking for me if I stall him long enough. Yeah, right, like she really cares if I come back out or not.' Harry opened his eyes and he saw Wormtail lifting his wand, ready to send another torture curse at Harry.

"Okay, I'll drink it," Harry said diplomatically.

Wormtail restrained his wand as he watched Harry closely.

Harry took the goblet with his right hand and lifted it up to his mouth.

"What is it going to do to me?" asked Harry before he allowed the liquid to touch his lips.

Wormtail smiled silence.

Harry hesitated and then remembered something Wormtail said to him. "Harry Potter, I can kill you at this very moment, but I am not going to. Although I am tempted, the Dark Lord did not order me to do so." Whatever this liquid was, he knew that it wouldn't kill him, but it would do something bad.

He didn't care, what would happen that can make things anymore worse? Harry lost everything; his family, his friends and Ginny. Ginny was all he wanted; love was what he needed, but Voldemort took it from him. This made Harry angry and encouraged him to throw the goblet across the room, except he didn't. He stared at Wormtail and drifted his eyes at the goblet. The black liquid was swirling in the goblet and still gave off that disgusting smell.

"Imperio," Wormtail hissed.

Harry felt his right hand jerk up and pour the liquid into his mouth. Once the liquid hit his tongue he was able to taste it. It tasted more disgusting than it looked. The taste was bitter and was mixed with a hint of blood. Harry gagged and coughed but the liquid refused to be pushed back out of his mouth. The hot liquid flowed through his body and burned in his stomach. His vision blurred and he felt his eye lids grow heavy and fall over his eyes. A few seconds passed, what felt like hours to Harry, when he opened his eyes again.

Wormtail was still standing in the same position he was at. He was grinning and very giddy. Harry felt something different in the cave; something that changed. His eyes wandered over at the opening and he saw Bethany standing there, looking awestruck from what she had just witnessed. The last thing Harry saw was Bethany hitting the wall next to him and chains pinning her arms and legs down. Then his body gave up on him and he blacked out.

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