The Dark Side of the Moon
Chapter 1
Introductions
Draco Malfoy bowed his head, rubbing his temples fretfully as he stalked down the fifth floor corridor of the Hogwarts castle, his mind consumed with fitful thoughts of rage and insolence. However, if one were to look at things from young Malfoy's point of view, one might be slightly more understanding to his agony, but only slightly. You see, Draco Malfoy, as all of the Hogwarts students, had been asked (forced, in his mind), by the Ministry of Magic, into retaking their last year of school, due to inappropriate professors the previous year. Of course, the board did have sufficient evidence to prove this matter, it was blatantly obvious with less than a half glance at the test scores. And honestly, two of the professors and the Headmaster had been accused Death Eaters, any self-respecting wizarding family hurriedly agreed with the proposal, much to the dismay of their children.
That, of course, brings us back to young Draco Malfoy, stalking through the newly repaired Hogwarts castle, his grey eyes closed tightly, mumbling under his breath, and fervently rubbing his head in an attempt to chase away the pounding ache being to throb above his eyes. He had just experienced the most tiring week in his entire school career, for the second time, and the migraine settling in was only the first sign of proof of that. Continuing his silent tirade, he stopped in front of the fourth door to the left of the Boris the Bewildered's statue and grumbled, "Rubber Ducky."
The door opened, and Malfoy released a sigh of relief, a nice hot bath would do him some good, possibly even melt away the horrid effects of living out another year as the Hogwarts Head Boy.
He stepped inside the candlelit room, gently dropping his bag to the floor, as not to agitate his pounding skull even further. The quiet trickling of water caught his attention, and he lifted his head, opening his eyes, his thoughts including several foul words and suggestions as to what the prefect occupying the room could do to himself.
As it turned out, the prefect was not a he.
Perched perilously atop the diving board, one foot dangling into the clear water below, was the decidedly female, Lilith Moon. She tilted her head to him, as the sound of the door clicking closed brought her attention from the endless ripples her toes provoked the water to form. Her pale cheeks were stained with the dark kohl that once rimmed her eyes, her thick auburn hair spiraling down her bare shoulders in messy tendrils, her nose red with crying.
"You didn't bolt the door," Malfoy accused harshly, as if he had the right to be offended.
"Oh," Moon answered shortly, returning her once tear-filled gaze to the water, swirling her foot, causing the ripples to appear, yet again, their never ending cycle beginning once more.
Malfoy crossed his arms, haughtily leaning against the doorframe, glaring at her. "Well," he drawled, "are you quite finished with your sob fest, I would like to bath, sometime this week."
Slowly, bringing her eyes back to him, she sighed. "It's a pity the room is taken then, isn't it? I'm sure you can find your way out, Mister Malfoy." Pointing at the door he was slumped against, she said dryly, "The door is just there, incase you've already forgotten."
"You're not even a prefect. I'll have you gutting salamanders for a month—" He stumbled for her name, and settled for hissing out, "You!"
With a sarcastic smile, she lifted a deep red brow. "And when, you do inform the Headmistress of your unknown delinquent's illegal activities, be sure to mention that you were breaking curfew as well, Malfoy." She paused, slipping into the warm pool-sized tub, soaking her long curls with jasmine scented water. "You might want to mention gawking at my naked body, too." Glancing down as herself, her fingers trailing along several deep scars ripped into her once smooth flesh, she scoffed. "Not that it's much to look at, but I suppose tits are tits and twats are twats, whether they're scarred or not."
Malfoy stilled, seemingly lost of words, before spitting, "I'm Head Boy, I'm allowed to be where ever I damn well please." Obviously, biting down a gag of disgust, he added, "And, as if, I'd ever sully my thoughts with so disgusting a creature as you." He topped the statement off with a severe scowl, lifting his chin arrogantly, giving his pointed nose and even more upturned appearance.
Moon grinned, almost sadistically, a dry chuckle forcing itself from her chapped lips. "Yes, and I suppose that's why your pants are so snug tonight."
If at all possible, Draco Malfoy paled. Involuntarily, his eyes flickered downward, attesting to the truth of her statement. He forced the shock from his face, replacing it with a mask of indifference. "What, in Merlin's name, makes you think you caused that?"
With a roll of her eyes, Moon disappeared into the dark water.
Not one to give in to others wills, or at least those of people inferior to him, Draco Malfoy tugged his jumper over his head, tossing it into the floor. He wasn't going to give up what was rightfully his just because some insolent, little chit refused to leave.
Moon completely ignored him, remaining submerged as he undressed and lowered himself into the water, carefully searching its depths for the shadow of her form as not to touch her. She surfaced, less than a meter in front of him, her eyes wide, revealing startling dark irises.
"Galloping Gargoyles!" she gasped. "What are you doing?"
"It's my right, as Head Boy, to use this bath. You, Miss—" He stalled on her name, and cursed himself for falling into the trap a second time. "Are violating my rights and I refuse to be denied my privileges because of a delinquent Ravenclaw!"
Snorting once, and backstroking away from him, Moon chuckled mockingly. "Seven goddamned years, Malfoy and you don't even know what house I'm in."
Malfoy inwardly groaned at the lack of effect his decision to join her had upon the girl. He had hoped she would scurry away, leaving him to relax in peace. As it was, he assumed he would have to go about his usual business and ignore her presence. He failed quite miserably at that, just a few short moments later.
Moon, guessing correctly that Malfoy would not be vacating her domain anytime soon, released a resigned sigh, and flicked her wrist, summoning her wand. With a silent charm, the soft plucking of guitar stings filled the room, soon to be joined by a driving bass line, steady beat of drums, and the hoarse whisper of a voice. Floating on her back, with an air of utter detachment, she relaxed her breathing, allowing herself to slip into the comforting depths of oblivion.
It was then, Draco Malfoy found himself unable to ignore her presence any longer. It was neither the rumbling of Muggle music, nor the soft female body drifting ever closer to him, that captured his attention. Instead, he was entranced by the candlelight flickering across her abdomen. The light displayed, not beauty, but the destroyed remnants of what might have once been. Her torso was slashed, shredded, with several long jagged scars, sweeping down from her far above her navel passed her hips. Her neck, now exposed as her hair fanned out around her, barring similar marks, along with a few deep puncture marks, scattered in odd round patterns.
It wasn't so much that he had never seen such injuries, because he had. He had inflicted wounds just as horrific on many of the Dark Lords enemies, or playthings as some tended to be, before he destroyed them. The thing about these scars that entranced him, mesmerized him, was the simply fact that they were scars. Scar tissue didn't happen in the magical world, there were too many ways around it. Unless, of course, you were Mad-Eye Moody, who tended to most of his injuries himself, leading to the heinous mask-like face he carried— or had carried like a trophy.
Of course, there was always the possibly that— "Greyback?" the name left Malfoy's lips before he realized he had come to a conclusion, his face a stunned mask of revolting and sickened expressions.
Moon started, splashing in the water as she attempted to right herself. Once she managed to gain her footing she shot Malfoy a freezing glare, before growling, "Oh, don't act so appalled, Malfoy." Shaking her head, she slowly made for the steps. "It's not as if you are above the bastard anyway. Just because your handy work didn't remain seen, doesn't make it any less heinous." Malfoy just watched her go, her truthful words like ice to his soul.
As she hoisted herself out of the water, she paused, turning to face him. "Actually, I'm of the opinion that what you did is worse. Fenrir was a sick, twisted fuck. You were never anymore than a weakling doing another's dirty work. At least, someone with balls and a mind of his own caused what I carry. Your victims, actually, they weren't yours were they?" she asked cruelly. "No, you were just the garbage boy, weren't you, Malfoy." With a bitter scornful laugh, she said, "Funny. Your Dark Lord was the murderer, but their blood rests on your hands, doesn't it? How many spirits haunt your dreams, Draco?" She raised an eyebrow at his horror-stricken face. "How many are going to be fighting to torture your soul in hell?"
With nothing left to say, she strode across the room, wrapping herself in a towel before, vanishing out the door, leaving only her wet footprints behind.
Draco Malfoy, sat in the large bath, his breaths labored, his eyes flickering from one shadow to the next in frantic search for unseen ghosts, the words spoken in bitter rage, awakening fears Malfoy had long wished suppressed.
Long minutes passed slowly by, as the young Malfoy willed away the encompassing thoughts of crimes he had committed, willingly or not, he wasn't sure any more, from his mind. It was hours before he crawled into his bed, only to live through another sleepless night.
Endnotes:
1) Moon is a canon character, she's mentioned in Philosopher's Stone, though she is not given a sex, or a first name. During "Harry Potter and Me" JRK shows a section of her notes, which is a list of students in Harry's year. Only the first three letters of Moon's name is shown. They are "Lil." After searching several websites for female names beginning with Lil, I decided to use Lilith.
2) Lilith is derived from the Assyrian lilitu, meaning "of the night," and often used as the name of a demon in Assyrian myths. In Jewish and Islamic tradition, Lilith was Adam's first wife, who was cast out of Eden for her unwillingness to submit to him and replaced by Eve; their offspring, became the evil spirits of the world. Whether or not this will have any affect on the story, is yet to be seen.
3) I've never attempted a "trio era" story before, so bear with me, please. If you see anything completely non-canon, or out of character, please, please, let me know.
4) This will only be roughly edited by me, unless someone volunteers. You've been warned.
5) Reviews are like chocolate, it doesn't matter what kind, it's still delicious, and you'll always receive a thank you in return.