… a lonely figure with his light dimmed behind the glory of his son. Still, one must ask: What is the son but an extension of the father?
Thump.
Who does this muggle think he is to say that I'm Lucius' extension?
Draco stayed up all night, unable to catch a whiff of sleep; something about sleeping so close to Voldemort's reach.
In his boredom, he decided to go over a book that his mother had bought in one of their 'outings'.
The book was a fairly interesting read so far and Draco was especially fond of the main character, Paul.
However, he didn't feel like continuing the book after reading that.
Sigh.
Placing the book on his nightstand, Draco reached for his wand inside his pyjama shorts' pocket.
"Tempus," he murmured and four silver numbers appeared in front of him.
06:52. It's morning at last then.
Letting out a soft groan, his whole body still hurt, Draco got off his bed.
Walking inside his private bathroom, he quickly finished his morning rituals and exited the room.
Everyone should be asleep, he thought and stifled a yawn from coming out.
Not wasting any time, Draco moved through his home's oversized hallways with a destination in mind.
Growl.
Did I forget to eat yesterday? he wondered dubiously and quickly realised that it had almost been a whole day since he last ate.
I'll call Donna later. I shouldn't risk her apparition sound waking anyone up.
Having come to a conclusion, Draco slowly continued his way to the library.
This sight never gets old, he thought, standing at the library's doorway.
The Malfoy bibliotheca, like its owners, was always one to satisfy.
Stacks upon stacks of silver bookshelves seemed to stretch endlessly into the well-lit distance.
Sunlight streamed through the many arch-glass windows, casting vibrant patterns of colour onto the polished marble floors.
It housed one of the biggest collections of magical books and scrolls and Draco was proud to call it his own.
And thanks to Lucious, it's Voldemort's now as well…
What did their progenitors think of them?
Bowing before a power-hungry madman.
Sigh.
Remembering his reason of visit, Draco moved towards the place where he remembered to have seen the occlumency books for the last time.
He navigated the labyrinths of knowledge with practised ease and quickly reached the place.
They should be right about here, he thought and scanned the bookshelf in front of him.
Unable to discern the desired tome titles from the many book spines, he took all the books off the shelve and went through them one by one.
By the time he finished his face was marred with deep frown lines.
What does this mean?
Casting the same silencing spell as the one he applied on his room's walls the day before, Draco called for his house-elf.
"Donna," he voiced.
Crack.
Following the sound, a little creature with large, bat-like ears and bulging blue eyes, appeared in front of the ashen-haired aristocrat.
She also donned a clean, whitish-grey pillowcase.
"Good morning Donna," he greeted her.
"Donna greets young master," said the elf with a girlish squeak and bowed.
Draco let out a snort of annoyance at the elf's antics.
How many times do I have to tell her that she should stop bowing every time she comes…
"Donna sees that young master is not pleased with Donna's greeting. Donna is also not pleased with Master because he didn't eat yesterday," the elf almost scowled.
Little minx, he thought, suppressing a groan.
"Yes, I know. You can bring me whatever you see fit to eat when I go to my room," he said and got a happy nod back.
"That's not the reason I called you though. Not the only one," he quickly added as he saw Donna's expression darkening.
"What does young master want from Donna then?" she asked with a tone that showcased her beliefs about his last statement.
Damn elf, he cursed and sighed in defeat.
He had a strong urge to run his hand through his hair but pushed it down.
Can't go around looking like Potter.
"Right here on this bookshelf, there were two books that are now missing. They both were about occlumency. The first one's title was 'Into the mind' and the second one was something like 'The art of occlumency'. Do you happen to know where they are?" he asked, pointing grumpily at the offending bookshelf.
At Draco's question, Donna fell into deep thought.
After a few seconds, she finally looked up, meeting his gaze.
"Donna is not sure about the second book, but she knows for certain that the dark master took the first book," she replied meekly as if disappointed by her usefulness.
"Hey, hey. Don't feel upset now, I don't even know the other book's title. You've told me more than enough. Thank you," he voiced out, but inwardly his mind was in turmoil.
So the dark lord confiscated our books on occlumency. I suppose that was smart of him, considering that more and more death eaters now roam these halls, he'd want to secure one of his aces.
That was annoying though…
He wouldn't be able to progress much in the art, if at all, until he talked with his godfather.
On another note, Donna was reassured by her master's words and after getting her right to leave, disapparated away.
Draco looked at the spot where his house-elf stood, moments prior.
She probably went to the kitchen. I wonder what she'll cook up.
Without further to do in the library, he took his leave.
I could have probably taken some books on the dark arts, he thought as he silently walked down the corridors, pondering if he should turn back.
Nah. I'll use my extra time to study ahead so that when I go to Hogwarts I'll have more free time. I can only hope that I'll have enough time to reach a sufficient level to keep him away from my true thoughts by the next summer… Else, I'll probably die.