Chapter twenty six; A day in the life.

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The day had started out normally for Draco Malfoy, or as normal life could be while being a Death Eater. The morning chill was present in his bedroom as he was startled awake by another haunting nightmare.

It'd been the third that week, each one different to the rest. For Draco, every nightmare revolved around him watching Olivia being tortured in some way or being murdered in front of him. In every nightmare she would look to him for help, a rare pleading glimmering in her eyes while they sparkled with tears of agony. In every nightmare, without fail, Draco stood there and watched helplessly. He never came to her aid, he never stepped in or intervened or put a stop to her torture. He just stood idly by and watched;

or in worse cases murdered her himself.

He had convinced himself that it was his sub-conscious' way of communicating with him, calling him a coward for his acts.

With these far fetched nightmares that — more often than not — felt quite real, Draco woke in several different ways. Some mornings he would scream himself awake, others he would cry and on the odd occasion he'd just startle himself awake. Regardless, each method of awakening and each prolonging nightmare had greatly reflected on his mental and physical state.

A seventeen year old boy, who had been infamously known for his smirk, was pale and thin. His skin was grey, and his eyes were bleak. He portrayed no emotion beyond the walls of his bedroom and more often than not fell victim to stress induced panic attacks.

It had fallen down to what he'd come to witness; the death of Albus Dumbledore, the torture of the girl he loved, the murder of an old Hogwarts Professor. What he had done had also played a large proportion; how he had tortured Thorfinn Rowle in Lord Voldemort's orders after he and Antonin Dolohov had returned from a failed mission to locate Harry Potter and Olivia Black.

He remembered specifically the day, how could he not? It was August 1st when it had happened. He'd heard through whispers amongst the rank that Olivianna Black had killed one of their own that night, he'd known the two men had encountered her as Antonin returned with only one half of his wand.

His life since he'd been recruited as a Death Eater had been a constant strain on his health, and now it was really starting to show.

As usual his mother opened his bedroom door and allowed herself in with only one knock. It was a routine now, like clockwork, every morning Narcissa Malfoy would enter her sons room to comfort him. She was there for Draco to unload ever so slightly, so at least the harrowing dreams he was having weren't kept bottled up in the forefront of his mind.

That morning was no different and she entered slowly, glancing over at her son who was half sat up in his bed. His white sheets were stern across the bottom of his legs and draped off the bed. As usual Draco was sweating, his hair was stuck down to this forehead as his pyjamas clung to his skin.

Narcissa closed the door behind her and walked over to her sons black four-poster double bed, perching on the vacant side. The first thing Draco did was pull his shirt over his head and drop it to the floor beside his bed, ignoring the cold chill that kissed his skin. He took the clean shirt from his mother without a word and slipped it on, then he dragged his hands over his face before pushing his hair back and off his head.

"What was it last night?" Narcissa asked quietly, her voice a mere whisper as she placed her hand over the back of her sons.

Draco stared ahead at the white door frame opposite his bed, the one that led to his private bathroom, and sighed, "It wasn't bad. There's been worse ones before."

"You still look shaken." Narcissa noted.

Draco nodded silently while collecting his words, "It started out as a simple questioning but she started to defy him, so it led to torturing."

Narcissa knew who 'she' and 'him' were. Her son had been having these nightmares enough for her to understand the ins and the outs of them. It was painful for her as a mother to watch her son in this state as he was forced to live a life he didn't want. Narcissa Malfoy didn't want this life for her son, hell she didn't want it for herself either but it wasn't how she imagined her sons final year in Hogwarts.

From the minute of his birth, the day she became a mother, she prayed that Draco would never have to experience what life would be in war. She prayed every night that her son would live his life in a safe place, a world free of Voldemort.

When he rose to power again she realised her son would be forced into the life she had lived within the First War.

"It'll get easier." She promised him, rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand.

It all seemed absurd to him. How his mother could make a promise like that. To Draco it made no sense. How could watching the love of your life being tortured to death get easier? It never could. For as long as he was human and had a conscious it could never be easy. Nor could it get easier. It was harrowing.

Draco covered his face with his hands as his body shook once. His face contorted with pain and he shook his head back and forth. He hadn't even realised he had been sobbing until he was choking for air.

He met his mothers usually cold eyes and pleaded silently for help. He was broken, completely shattered even, thanks to the War. His eyes were red and bloodshot, his face blotchy as he cried. Draco heaved for the air he desperately needed to use his words, "H-how?" He chokes out, "H-how does this g-get any ea-easier?"

Narcissa frowned, "Draco—"

"It doesn't!" He cried out, "It will never be any easier! Don't you understand?"

Narcissa Malfoy pulled her son to her chest in a quick motion and she held him there tightly while he cried. Draco didn't need to so his mother cry as well, she had done so well to conceal her emotions for so long. As she rocked her son back and forth, she allowed one single droplet to roll down her cheek while her son sobbed into her chest.

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It was horribly suffocating — living your life out in your bedroom, but for Draco it was an escape.

He had a similar routine most days; wake up from a nightmare, wash and dress for the day, pick at the food given to him and hide in his bedroom. It was his safe haven, a place that allowed him to be himself — not an emotionless minion who served the Dark Lord.

That day was no different.

Draco Malfoy stood in his bedroom with his hands tucked deeply into his pockets while he looked down to the gardens from his bedroom window. The snow that had covered the greenhouse his mother used was barley visible anymore.

The sun had been setting on what had been another pointless day. The only person to interact with Draco that day was his mother, who had personally brought his breakfast, lunch and dinner to him to make sure he was eating. She had always ended up leaving through her sons request only minutes after arriving to his room however.

Draco had been stood looking out of his window for over six hours, just watching the world go by aimlessly. He thought his day would end like that too, just staring out of his window, until his door opened behind him.

Draco sighed and dropped his head before turning to the door, "Mum, I've told you already I've eaten—"

It wasn't his mum stood at his door however, it was an old friend. One he hadn't seen in some time. Alexis Rosier was quivering at his door, her dark eyes wide with fear and her face pale. She looked like she had thrown herself together to get to Draco; her shirt was untucked from her skirt, one of her socks hadn't been pulled up and her cloak had fallen off her shoulders. She looked a disheveled mess stood in the frame of Draco's door.

His eyebrows had drawn into the centre of his face and he took a tentative step forwards, "Rosier? Why are you stood in my bedroom?" He hadn't realised he'd used her surname until it slipped from his tongue, it had become a habit while around Death Eaters.

"Someone's broke the wards at Hogwarts. We've been called in to assist the search in finding an intruder." Alexis told him quickly with no hesitation, like she'd been reciting the words in her head for hours.

"Someone broke into Hogwarts?" Draco echoed in disbelief, "How is that even possible, Death Eaters and Snatchers have the place on twenty-four hour lock down."

This time Alexis' eyes lit up, "Exactly. It takes a either a genius or an ambitious idiot to break past them."

It was as if Draco was reading Alexis' mind as her name encircled around his head loud and clear. He swallowed nervously just thinking of the possibility and cleared his throat, "Or both."

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Convincing his mother of that he should be the one of their family to apparate to his school to assist the Death Eaters was both easy and difficult. Draco had a fine argument, out of the three Malfoys he was most eligible to go. His father had no wand and his mother had no desire to partake in this task, but Draco had both. He wanted to go to confirm his and Alexis' suspicions, and if they were right he needed to see Olivia, he just needed to.

The difficulty was persuading his mother to allow him to go. Narcissa Malfoy, whenever possible, wanted nothing more for her son to remain uninvolved in the business of Death Eaters. Draco's willingness to partake in this particular task worried her greatly. She feared Draco had had a change of opinion and truly desired to work for The Dark Lord now, she feared he was set to make the same mistakes his father had.

There was a group of thirty or so Death Eaters gathered in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor, all assembled to serve their their purpose to their Lord and travel to Hogwarts to join the search of the supposed intruder. Amongst the group was Alexis Rosier and her brother Felix, who had both been given permission by their parents to venture to their old school and assist in the task.

Draco Malfoy and his family stood on the outsides of the group gathered in their own home, whispering between them, "Let me go mum, I'm not a child anymore."

"I don't want you involved in their business unless absolutely necessary Draco, why don't you understand this?" Narcissa stressed to her son, her arms folded across her chest.

"No, no—" Lucius interrupted, "think about it love, if he goes with them and has involvement in finding the intruder- if he brings the intruder to the Dark Lord our families name will be res—"

Narcissa rounded on her husband before he even had the chance to finish, "—I don't care about a stupid reputation Lucius," She snapped, "I care about my son, our sons, safety."

"If your worried about little Draco I'll be happy to watch over him Cissy." Narcissa's older sister reassured as she sauntered over to the family gathering, "You know I'll take care of my nephew don't you?" Bellatrix pouted, encasing her arms around Draco's shoulders.

Narcissa swallowed harshly and nodded her head timidly while under the presence of her sister. Bellatrix grinned, her set of yellow stained teeth visible, "C'mon then handsome," She whispered in Draco's ear, "We've got a low-life to catch."

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If he had to chose one word to describe what he had been thrown into, it would be chaos. If he and Alexis — who had disappeared — had been right, he had to give it to Olivia. She had somehow, and most likely unintentionally, created a shit show within Hogwarts.

He clutched to his wand tightly while pushing through the overcrowded hallways of students. He hadn't seen Hogwarts in this much chaos since the first day of term back in his sixth year. The hallways were blocked completely, making it almost impossible to get through.

When he got to the less crowed dungeons he moved with ease towards the hidden stone wall that granted a person access to the Slytherin common room. His arrival had been timed perfectly as he didn't know of the new password but some screaming girls running out of the common room gave him a small window to enter.

The common room for the most part was slightly hectic. There was signs of a fight here and there; a table snapped into pieces on the floor as well as a small indentation in one of the walls. A couple of students ran around in a panic while others sat by silently. He found his friends amongst relatively large group of students his year and the year below and ran over to them.

Blaise had his arms wrapped protectively around Alexis' waist, who Draco noticed to look very out of it. He panted for breath as he came to a stop next to Serena and Theo Nott, "Where-where an earth did you go?" He asked of Alexis, "I turned around in the manor and you were gone."

Staring at the floor, Alexis' reply was barely above a whisper, "It didn't look like you would be able to go, Felix was about to leave so I went with him. If I hadn't—" She drew in a sharp breath and forced herself to swallow.

The sudden silence Alexis had subjected herself to panicked Draco and his eyes widened, "If you hadn't what Alexis?"

From beside him Serena sighed while crossing her arms over her chest, "She wouldn't of made it out if it weren't for Alexis' warning." She told him, looking to the pale faced girl, "And without Parkinson she would've engaged in a straight out duel."

"She did engage in a duel." Theo argued,
"The the state of the common room and
Amycus' wand begs to differ with you."

Serena threw him a heated glare, "I meant she would've faced Amycus and Alecto without preparation. You knew what I meant."

"So it was her?" Draco asked uncertainly, "Olivia's the one who broke into Hogwarts?"

Amusement covered Blaise's face and he laughed into Alexis' hair, "I fucking adore that girl, the guts she's got."

Serena too smiled at her friend while shaking her head to herself. Draco wasn't sure whether to smile or worry but once more his attention was drew to Alexis' unmoving frame. She was still staring into the green carpeted rug, chewing nervously on her bottom lip. Draco looked at Blaise carefully while studying Alexis, "What's wrong?"

Blaise sighed, "Amycus knew she warned Olivia of them coming, after she took off and they both recovered he told Alexis he was going to kill Olivia before he dealt with her." He swallowed hard, "We all know he has a fat chance of actually catching Olivia, so it-uh- he would come back to Alexis for betraying the Death Eaters."

Draco shook his head, "I-I don't understand?"

Serena moved Draco aside and lowered her voice for Alexis' sake, "Amycus told her he'd drag her to The Dark Lord for her betrayal."

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A/N; I'm having a trauma.

The times come for me to actually move back on to script and my recordings of Deathly Hallows part 1&2 are gone. The only HP films I have left are Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince.

Idk what to do anymore.