Undertow

Chapter One: Strangers

It was his fourth day home from Hogwarts, and already Draco and his father had been in seven separate arguments. The most recent one had occurred just over ten minutes ago, and the magnificent halls were still ringing with slamming doors and raised voices. He and his father could not get along this summer at all. Now Draco lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling and replaying the fight in his head.

He and his mother, Narcissa, were eating dinner when Lucius came in. He had placed a letter under Draco's nose. Curious, Draco had picked it up to see what it was for. It was about a summer camp hosted at Durmstrang and run by several suspected Death Eaters. It specialized in the Dark Arts, and was obviously dedicated to training future Death Eaters. Draco had dropped the letter like it was an Indian cobra.

"It starts next week," Lucius had told Draco. "All of us who want our children to have a future are sending our children to it."

"A future as what, a Death Eater?" Draco asked his father unwisely. "Terrorizing innocent people? Causing people to lose everything and everyone they love?"

"Don't you dare use that tone of voice with me, young man," Lucius threatened him.

"Or what? You'll ground me?" Draco snorted. "I doubt that. Anyway, what good will grounding do? I'm not going anyway. I've told you, I don't want to be a Death Eater."

"Damn it, boy!" Lucius started to raise his voice. "You WILL be a Death Eater."

"Like hell I will!" Draco shouted, jumping to his feet and turning over his chair with a loud clatter. He turned and raced down the hall. He didn't stop until he had reached his room and slammed the door.

Now, here he was, still lying on his bed, lost in thought. He desperately wanted out of his house, out of the life he was expected to lead. The thought of being forced in to Voldemort's service sickened him.

-I won't- he thought, but his determination didn't make it any easier to find a way out of his predicament. He just wished that it was September first and he was on his way back to Hogwarts for his sixth year. There, at least, he could avoid his parents. A soft cry cut through the heavy silence in the room;

"Shit!" Draco jumped up and ran over to the large cage his eagle-owl, Hades. The large bird was rattling the bars of its wire prison.

"You want to go stretch your wings, don't you?" Draco opened the cage door and the owl flew silently out the open window. Watching the owl disappear into the horizon, Draco was struck with a sudden genius.

-I could run away.-

The idea was so compelling, he decided to act on it before he lost his nerve. He quickly packed all of his belongings into two large trunks, then bewitched them so they weight scarcely more than a feather. He attached them to his broom and opened the window. He stepped back and quickly performed a Disillusionment Charm on himself and his belongings.

-Here goes nothing- Draco kicked off, circled his room once, then flew out the window. He raced away through the dying light, not looking back.