“Why does he always ruin everything?” Draco thought as he leaned against the back of his bedroom door.

He had just been told that he might have to go to another wizarding school. Oh sure, he said he may have wanted to, but in reality it was just an act, for his father. And now he was gone, but he was still ruining Draco’s life.

Draco slowly got up and went over to his window. There was still a sliver of sun left on the horizon.

There was a slight breeze blowing the velvety black curtains. Draco shut the window tight and locked it. Not for the simple reason he was cold, but the fact that he knew anything bad could happen if the window were open.

Lately he’d been feeling slightly paranoid. He didn’t go out after dark, and was barely ever seen out in the daylight, but he had his reasons.

Once again Draco crossed the room, but this time he walked out the door, down the marble steps and to the front door.

He quickly opened it a crack and peeped out, no one there. He swore he’d heard a knock at the door. Just another paranoid thought.

He closed the door quietly and locked it. Not that it would keep any decent wizard out but you could never be too careful in the wizarding world, especially at the time being.

Just as Draco headed for the stairs again, he heard the faint but growing click of his mother’s shoes on the blue glazed tile floor.

She came around the corner and into view just as Draco turned around.

“Where are you off to?” she asked in her ill-mannered voice as she got in front of Draco.

Draco rolled his eyes. “Just to my room mother.” He droned. She was always asking him that same question. He figured she might be a bit paranoid also.

Narcissa Malfoy looked him over before saying, “Very well, good-night. I’m off to bed.” And with that said, she clicked off into another hallway.

So Draco continued up the stairs and into his bedroom. That was his refuge. Most of his life was now spent in that godforsaken room. He didn’t dare venture anywhere out of the Malfoy Manor either. It wasn’t safe, especially not for him.

But he did well in that room. He liked to be alone. It gave him time to think and ponder things in his head thoroughly.

He even ate most of his meals in his room. Not that his mother minded. She didn’t seem to mind anything he did now, nor in the past.

Draco went and lay down on his bed, after taking off his day clothes, for he slept in just his boxers.

He sighed deeply and stared at the ceiling for what seemed like an hour before he finally realized he was still awake, but very tired.

So he got up, turned off his light, got back into bed and fell instantly asleep.

But the dream he had would soon wake him in the quiet hours of darkness.

::: Draco shot up from his bed in a cold sweat. He was shaking all over, and felt cold and clammy.

:::He gazed around his steady room. There was nothing out of the ordinary that met his eye. He was thankful, but ever so full of caution. The dream had given him quite a stir.

:::He got up from his bed and felt his way to the window and pulled open the curtains. There was the moon, so bright and full of life.

:::He checked to make certain the window was still locked, and wandered over to his desk to sit down. He flipped on the lamp and sat there, thinking.

:::”Why did he want me to die?” he pondered. The dream was filling his already disturbed mind with questions that had no answers, or answers he didn’t have.

::: Once again he felt the darkness of night closing in around him with the grip on his neck tightening with every pulse of his heart.

::: Draco shook his head free of the image, once again he was in a cool sweat.

:::So he decided not to think about it anymore, and with that he got up to get into bed, but half way there he forgot to shut of his desk light. So he turned around and went back.

:::But just as he was reaching for the switch, he was something he hadn’t noticed before.

:::A letter on the desktop. And it was addressed to him.

::: Draco picked it up with a shaky hand and opened it. Inside was just one confusing and horrifying message.

            :::”Stay away from the girl. Or I will kill you.”

:::That was it. Draco dropped it back onto the desktop. It shriveled up and from it raised a cloud of dark smoke. It was in the shape of the Dark Mark. Now he was scared.

:::He tried to fan the mark away, but it was no use, so he took out his wand, muttered “vaniserate” and the smoke vanished.

:::There were chills up and down his spine. He didn’t understand.

:::”Stay away from the girl.” What could that possibly mean?

:::He decided to just sleep on it. He switched off the light and slowly got into bed after checking that the window was locked, and he fell into an uneasy sleep.

            ******************************************************

:::The morning sun slowly crept up from its nap and into Draco’s room.

::: Draco felt the warmth on his pale face and slowly opened his eyes, yawned, and rolled out of bed.

:::His stomach rumbled. So Draco threw on some clothes and headed downstairs, but not before pausing at his desk. Nothing there. So he crept down into the shiny kitchen for some breakfast.

:::His mother must have still been asleep because she wasn’t in the kitchen.

::: Draco found that rather odd since she was always up before him, but never-the-less he prepared himself a big breakfast of French toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit and milk to satisfy a still rumbling stomach.

:::He sat down at the long table and turned on the small T.V in the corner.

:::It was the news.