Epilogue

Draco sat trembling in his room. "Failed," he repeated over and over again. No other thought crossed his mind. He had one task to accomplish to save his family, to redeem them from the failure of his father. His head was in his hands and he sat huddled on his king sized bed. Failed, he had failed that night. Snape had to do it for him. Snape. How could his mentor betray him? Did he not have faith enough in him? Draco just didn't understand. He didn't understand how he had frozen. It was a foolproof plan and now he had condemned himself to death.

A knock on the door caused him to jump. He stood uneasily and walked shakily toward the door. Voldemort? Hopefully it wouldn't be so. With a shaking hand, he opened the door to find his mother, who hugged him fiercely. He hugged her back, thankful that someone in the world loved him for being who he was. She had been there for him from the beginning and she would be there with him at the end.

"Draco," she said with a tear-streaked face, "my only son."

He hugged her fiercely. "Mom," he choked. "Don't cry for me. I'll be alright. I'm ready for it. It's my destiny."

"Draco, no. No, you must listen to me. Please? You have to leave here. I need you to live. Please? I can't watch you die. You are a skilled occlumens. You can block him out of your mind. You can be safe. Will you do that for me, Draco? Will you leave here? Find somewhere safe. Maybe in a Muggle community." She looked at him as if her life depended on him doing this one thing.

All he could do was nod.

"Thank you, Draco. Thank you," she whispered.

A tear streaked down his face. "What about you, Mom? What will you do? He'll surely-"

"Without you and your father I have nothing, so there is no reason for me anymore. I'm fine, darling. Just go and be quick. Put whatever you can into a bag and disappear from here for a long time. Please, go now and don't look back."

"I love you, Mom," he whispered as he gave her one final hug.

She kissed his cheek. "I love you too, my dragon." And she turned from his room and closed the door behind her.

As quickly as he could, he shrunk and packed his clothes into his back pack, grabbed his broom and flew out his window into the darkness, leaving the Malfoy Mansion, where he grew up and what he loved, forever.