For The Greater Good (A Draco Malfoy Story)

Always

  The past month has been exhausting. We were constantly on the move, and no matter how hard we tried we couldn't destroy the locket. We used every spell we could think of and the locket still remained intact, just as Kreacher warned us it would. We decided to take turns wearing the locket and today was my turn. Hermione was in possession of it right now. I had also noticed a change in us when we wore the horcrux. We would become bitter, and cold with each other and a darkness would spike in us. I had first thought it was because we were constantly moving from place to place and from the lack of success we've been having.

But no, it was the locket.

Somehow the locket was changing us. I tried not to let it take its hold on me but the damn thing was like a leech, sucking out any lightness and bringing forth the worst in everyone. But I think the most affected person by the locket was Ron. He wasn't the funny ginger we all loved when he wore it. He would isolate himself sometimes and always look at us with resentment in his eyes. Harry and Hermione couldn't see it, but I could. I knew going on the run would change us somewhat and its not exactly a walk in the park but I didn't expect this.

I sighed as I shook these thoughts from my head. I walked over to Hermione, who was quietly sitting on the couch reading furiously. I held out my hand and she lifted her head and stared at me. I could see the ice forming over her normally warm brown eyes. Finally, she took off the locket, grumbling, and put it in the palm of my hand. I didn't pull away from her gaze though until I was sure she was back to herself. Her intelligent face softened and one of the corners of her mouth twitched into a half smile as she relaxed. I gave her a half smile back and turned away from her to go outside. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her go back to her reading, but less like she was trying to murder the book.

I walked out of the tent and felt the crisp autumn air try to penetrate the thick material of my blue pullover sweater and my dark jeans. The temperature had dropped significantly over the course of this past week, more so than it was usual for Britain. Tea had become our savior in true British fashion.

I looked at the locket in my hand and grimaced at the thought of putting it on, but it had to be done. I put the horrid thing around my neck and like usual I experienced piercing pain in my chest where my heart is located. The uncomfortable sensation surged through my body like radiation, poisoning me from the inside out. It wasn't usually this bad. I stumbled over to a nearby tree and collapsed onto the wet mossy forest ground. I pulled my sweater down until the accessories around my neck were visible and looked at my chest. The locket my father gave me and the horcrux were both glowing, warring with each other as one burned hot enough to brand me and the other began to freeze my skin to the point where I thought it was frostbite. Two extreme reactions that would have been bad enough alone but now, together, I felt as if my chest was going to burst open and my heart would disintegrate. Every cell in my body hummed and screamed in pain.

"W-What's...happening?" I tried to scream. My fingers dug into the icy ground as my back arched and another sound ripped through me. Where was Harry? Hermione? Ron? Why weren't they rushing to help me? Blackness started to creep from the corner of my vision inwards and I thought that perhaps a Death Eater was doing this to me, but the blackness was coming from me. And sure enough when it consumed my vision, I fell face-first at the bottom of a tree, unconscious.

Warmth.

It was all I could feel right now. It seeped into my skin and heated me to my core. It wasn't scorching though. It wasn't like the heavy heat of the desert or the burning touch of a fire. It was like the kiss of a sunny day after weeks of rain, like the warmth of a blanket you're swaddled in. I almost didn't want to wake, every muscle of my body was relaxed and loose.