Darkness Within||Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Too much pride

Over the rest of the summer, Bellatrix and Dolohov taught me Occlumency and Legilimency. Bellatrix kept a wary distance from me. She didn't want to experience that again. And if Bellatrix was scared, then things really were bad. I smiled to myself as I focused, blanking out my mind.

"Legilimens!" Bellatrix cried, and I felt her forcing her way into my mind. As I'd been taught, I kept my walls up before letting her break though. She examined some of my memories whilst I tried to push her back. At the same time, I buried some of my memories deeper. Then I made sure she noticed me hiding one away. She chased after it before I finally let her break through. It wasn't a really serious memory, but Dolohov had told me that I should pretend to be hiding one away. That would make them go after that particular memory instead of the ones I really wanted to remain hidden.

"Improvement," Bellatrix nodded, "Another tip: in order to keep the deepest secrets hidden, you have to let the enemy get a few darker secrets. You may not want them to, but those memories will be worth sacrificing in order for you to keep the darkest ones hidden."

"That makes sense."

"Now, you will practise Legilimency," said Dolohov. I straightened, gripping my wand.

"Legilimens!" Dolohov's walls were strong, but not particularly strong. He was more skilled at Legilimency than Occlumency. I battled my way in, crumbling down his defences. A shudder ran through me. His mind was foul and twisted. Every part of it seemed to be shrouded in darkness and evil. I hastily skipped past the memories of him torturing and killing others. It was gruesome.

At last, I viewed a memory of him receiving the Dark Mark. Then I pulled out, not wishing to see more. Either his whole mind was foul and evil, or the ones that weren't so dark were hidden deeper than I thought.

"Let's go again," ordered Bellatrix. By the time the session ended, I was drained and exhausted from the mental effort. Voldemort hadn't exactly specified if he was still going to come at the end of the summer to check, but I assumed he would. That meant I had roughly a week or so to prime all of my skills before he came. If I was honest, I'd learnt more over a summer than I had at Hogwarts.

There came a knock on my door. I padded over, pulling it open.

"Oh, hello Draco," I said. He gave me a wry smile.

"Am I allowed to come in?"

"Er, sure, why not?" I stepped aside and he breezed in as I shut the door behind us.

"Well, I mean, it is my house after all," he said loftily. I laughed.

"Don't be so egoistical, Draco!" He flopped down into a chair, and I perched atop the one opposite.

"So, what's the matter?" I asked, causing him to raise his eyebrows.

"Can't I visit without a reason?"

"Well, I mean, you can, but I just assumed-"

"-Typical you," he cut me off, "In other circumstances, maybe it wouldn't be so strange to just visit someone without a reason. But yes, I do have something to tell you. Bellatrix said the Dark Lord was going to come in two days' time." My mouth dropped open.

"Two days' time? Well, that's short notice."

"Roxy, I'm being serious. Don't pull another stunt like that again." Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrows.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean defying him like that so openly and even going as far as to attack both him and Bellatrix."

"I don't see a problem there." He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"You may have taken him by surprise last time, but I highly doubt you'll be so successful this time round. Just don't do anything rash."

"So you want me to just let him hurt you?"

"Well, if it means we're still alive, then yes. You know he won't kill me, Roxy. He needs me for the task." I glared daggers at him.

"This is what happens when you have too much pride," I hissed, "Draco, do you honestly think he values you that much? You forget that he's only assigning you this task to punish your father. He doesn't believe you'll succeed and make it out alive. He could easily replace you with anyone, such as me. There are Death Eaters he could assign the job to instead. I know you feel this is a blow to your pride or whatever, but it's the stark reality. He could easily kill you with a single flick of his wand and it wouldn't bother him in the slightest." There was a pause.

"You're right," Draco sighed, "But just don't do anything like that again, ok? You never know what the Dark Lord could do."

"I'll see. I'll try not to, but if things get too bad, then I will if I have to," I huffed. Draco saw that it was pointless to try to dissuade me further, so gave up.

"How are you taking all of this?" I asked eventually, softening my tone. He shrugged.

"It doesn't seem too bad. I'm sure I could do it, and restore my family to prominence again. After all, I am Draco Malfoy." I groaned, shaking my head.

"It really is pointless to try to reason with you," I snapped, "How do you know you can do it? Do you really think he'll view your family in the high regard he used to, even if you did manage to succeed? And what will your title bring you? Maybe it worked on a bunch of little kids, but you're dealing with bloodthirsty, serial terrorists who want nothing more than death and power. I've spent a whole summer with Bellatrix Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov. Believe me, I have some idea what they're like."

"Don't be such a pessimist. You never know what will happen." Now it was my turn to give up reasoning with this stubborn ferret.

Two days later, I made myself look presentable. I dressed in black, skinny jeans and a black top, tying my hair up into a high braid. It would allow me movement whilst looking good at the same time. Then I grabbed my wand and went downstairs. Bellatrix and Dolohov were already there, with Bellatrix practically bouncing with excitement. I saw Narcissa and Draco come in, rather uneasily. They stood off in one corner.

Moments later, a streak of black smoke billowed in, and Voldemort emerged.

"Well, I see we are all set to go. I want Dolohov and Roxy to duel first." I blinked, swallowing slightly. Heading straight into deep waters, I see.

"Certainly, my Lord," Dolohov answered. We stood facing each other, Bellatrix and Voldemort watching from the sides. We bowed to each other, then prepared our stances.

"Begin," Voldemort commanded.